Japan has announced the latest evaluation results under its cost effectiveness assessment scheme. But how does it work and how much have prices been revised so far under the four-year-old program following discussions between pharma firms and authorities?

The first-in-class, oral GPR35 agonist has shown preclinical promise as a potential treatment for gastrointestinal indications such as ulcerative colitis.

Plus deals involving Fujimoto/Egetis, Chugai/Cheplapharm, Celest/Senti, Shionogi/Apnimed, Jiangsu Hengrui/Merck KGaA, Jiangsu Hengrui/Elevar, Sun/Zydus, C4U/Healiva, Shanghai Henlius/Intas, Ono/Turbine, EpimAB/Almirall and Alar/Indivior.

Alnylam is using its RNA interference technology to target hypertension, which could create a true mass-market cardiovascular blockbuster drug for the firm – but upcoming Phase II data will need to be compelling.