Building Bridges: Incubate's Ongoing Commitment to US-Japan Biotech Collaboration

As Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi prepares for a summit with President Trump in Washington next week, Incubate is proud to reflect on the deep and sustained engagement we have built with Japan's life sciences ecosystem and to reaffirm our commitment to advancing the US-Japan biotech relationship for years to come.

For Incubate, Japan is not a new frontier. It is a long-standing partner, and our work there has been built deliberately, engagement by engagement, over the past several years.

A Track Record of On-the-Ground Engagement

In April 2023, Incubate traveled to Tokyo to co-host a forum with Nikkei, Japan's leading business media company, bringing together 120 stakeholders including Japanese government officials and Diet members to global venture capitalists and patient advocates. The forum, titled "Incubating Innovation in the Life Science Ecosystem," featured leading investors and offered a platform for candid dialogue about how Japan could strengthen its early-stage life sciences infrastructure. We engaged directly with senior officials from the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare and the Ministry of Trade, Economy, and Industry, relationships that have continued to inform our policy work.

Later that year, in October 2023, Incubate participated in the Fukuoka Prefecture Innovation Program in Boston, helping connect Japanese regional government officials with the U.S. biotech investment community. That kind of bridge-building—between Japanese innovators and global capital—is central to what Incubate does.

In May 2024, an Incubate delegation returned to Tokyo for a series of high-level engagements with investors, policymakers, and life sciences stakeholders. The trip reinforced what we have heard consistently from the investment community: Japan has extraordinary scientific talent and a genuine commitment to biotech leadership, but it needs policy reforms to unlock that potential and attract the private capital it deserves.

Incubate returned to Tokyo in May 2025 for a two-day series of high-level engagements co-organized with Link-J. The delegation participated in a luncheon and roundtable with Japanese pharmaceutical executives, US and EU venture capitalists, and Japanese investors, as well as the Link-J R&D Investment Conference, a full-day program featuring fireside chats on global investment strategy, translational science, and the future of Japan's biotech ecosystem. On the government side, the delegation met with key policy figures across the Japanese diet and government, making the case that supporting startup ecosystem and established pharmaceutical companies would further strengthen Japan's already robust academic research base and could position Japan as a global biotech hub.

Incubate returned again in November 2025, sending a delegation of U.S.-based investors to Tokyo for four days of intensive engagement with government, industry, and ecosystem partners. The delegation met with senior officials at MHLW, METI, and the LDP Policy Research Council, as well as staff at the U.S. Embassy, who welcomed ICJ's input for the Ambassador's own upcoming engagements with the Ministry. The delegation also participated in the Science 2 Startup Japan Conference, hosted a bilateral dinner for more than 20 VCs, and recorded an episode of Incubate's Making Medicine podcast to amplify the trip's key messages. Throughout every engagement, the delegation emphasized a consistent message: Japan's undervaluing of innovation is driving drug loss and deterring the investment its world-class science deserves.

The Policy Stakes

These trips have helped build enduring relationships with stakeholders across the Japanese biopharma ecosystem, supported Incubate's policy positions, and strengthened advocacy efforts of our sister organization, Incubate Coalition Japan, in Tokyo. Through ICJ, we have engaged on Japan's annual National Health Insurance drug pricing system, calling for reforms that appropriately value innovation and reduce the unpredictability that deters investment. We have raised concerns about mechanisms that cut prices for patented medicines without adequately accounting for clinical value. And we have argued, consistently, that Japan's drug loss problem is the result of policy choices that can be changed.

The Takaichi–Trump summit is an opportunity to advance that agenda at the highest level. Incubate will continue to advocate for biotech to be a priority of the bilateral trade and economic discussions.

Why This Matters Now

As the Trump administration engages with Japan on trade, investment, and economic security, the life sciences sector deserves a prominent seat at the table. American biotech thrives when global markets are open, when innovation is rewarded, and when intellectual property is protected. Japan, as one of the world's most important pharmaceutical markets and a country with deep scientific capacity, is a natural partner in advancing those goals.

Incubate's engagement in Japan is part of a long-term strategy to build a strong US–Japan life sciences partnership that benefits patients, investors, and innovators on both sides of the Pacific. As we look ahead to the summit and beyond, we are committed to continuing that work.

Stay Engaged

We encourage policymakers, investors, and stakeholders in both the United States and Japan to follow Incubate Coalition Japan's work at www.incubatecoalitionjapan.org and to reach out to our team as discussions around the bilateral agenda evolve.

Together, we can build the policy environment that turns Japan's extraordinary scientific potential into treatments that reach patients around the world