Global Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market 2025 – 2034

Reports Description

As per the Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market analysis conducted by the CMI Team, the Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market is expected to record a CAGR of 6% from 2025 to 2034. In 2025, the market size is projected to reach a valuation of USD 0.34 Billion. By 2034, the valuation is anticipated to reach USD 0.57 Billion.

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Overview

The growth of the Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market is expected due to a rise in cancer and advancements in technology that will enable immunotherapy. Cancer vaccines improve the immune system’s capacity to identify and ultimately eradicate any cancer cells. Companies in this area, including Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Astellas Pharma Inc., and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., are devoting significant effort and funding toward research and development and clinical trials of cell/cancer vaccines.

The market is also aided by strong government support and the absence of import tariffs on cancer vaccines. With each passing year, as medicine evolves, Japan is poised to become an important market with personalized and targeted therapies in high demand, making Japan a key player for global oncology.

The medical field has seen advancements such as AI-assisted antigen identification and messenger RNA (mRNA) campfires to increase research and development productivity rates and vaccine innovation. Japan has also been supportive by healthcare policies and funding public-private partnerships that allow biotech startups to continue developing next generation therapies.

Joint ventures and partnerships with many global biotech companies have improved Japan’s access to developing treatments and technologies in cancer vaccines. Accordingly, local and multinational companies are seeking to expand their presence in Japan. Overall, the growth paradigm for cell cancer vaccines in Japan indicates a bright future in the changing medical ecosystem.

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Key Growth Drivers

The Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Trends have tremendous growth opportunities due to several reasons:

• Strong R&D Investments: Strong research and development (R&D) investment is one of the key pillars to advancing cell cancer vaccines, as it allows for identification of new therapeutic targets and innovative vaccine platforms. In Japan, large amounts of funding from public sources and pharmaceutical companies demonstrate their commitment to oncology innovation. For example, in 2024, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. achieved an all-time high core operating profit of USD 3.83 billion, aided by considerable R&D, which has now progressed NXT007 to Phase II clinical trials and AMY109 also to Phase II clinical trials, as well as advancing BRY10, which was developed using AI-assisted technology. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has also continued to allocate government funds to biopharmaceutical R&D in Japan to enhance its position as a global leader in this area of cancer research and advancement.

• International Collaborations: International collaborations involve partnerships between a domestic organization and an international organization (or organizations), which can work together to effectively develop, test and commercialize the medical innovations. International collaboration allows expertise, resources and technology to be combined and works to accelerate cell cancer vaccine development and global availability. In 2024, Astellas Pharma developed an international collaboration with Pfizer and Merck for the European Commission approval for PADCEV in combination with KEYTRUDA for the treatment of advanced urothelial cancer (“Advances in Cancer Immunotherapy,” 2024). Also, Astellas’ subsidiary Xyphos completed a deal in excess of $800 million USD with Kelonia Therapeutics to advance cell therapy technologies. Collaboration with international organizations demonstrates Japan is actively pursuing innovation and accessibility for the treatment of cancer with biopharma development. Collaboration from the area of biopharma development is important for reducing time and finding a more efficient path to provide innovative and advanced therapies to patients around the world.

• AI Technology in Drug Development: Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is transforming drug development by using large datasets to identify therapeutic targets, predict drug effectiveness, and optimize clinical trials. In the area of cell cancer vaccines, AI speeds up the discovery of tumor-specific antigens and helps design tailored vaccines, which enhance treatment outcomes. Chugai Pharmaceutical has successfully applied its proprietary AI technology, MALEXA, to very recently develop BRY10. This drug is the first to enter clinical trials, having been discovered through this AI platform, thus demonstrating the route in which AI is being explored and developed in oncology drug discovery in Japan. AI technology is streamlining development and optimizing precision on target in order to minimize time, cost, and resources in cancer drug development. Clearly the examples summarize the growing role of AI in innovation in order to better treat cancer. Overall, Japan is rapidly emerging at the forefront of discovery and development as it applies AI programs in its biopharmaceutical R&D.

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Key Threats

The Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market has several primary threats that will influence its profitability and future development. Some of the threats are:

• Limited Access to Remote Areas: Limited access to medical services in rural areas continues to be a fundamental barrier in the collection of cancer cell vaccine in an equitable manner. There are a number of barriers to accessibility in rural areas, including poor medical distribution, a lack of specialized healthcare workers, and limited and unreasonable transportation options that extend the process of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. While conclusive and specific data on access to rural vaccines in Japan is relatively lacking, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare understands the differences in medical accessibility in rural areas and is continuing its own efforts to effectively manage the treatment of access disparities related to cancer treatments. For example, the government has expanded telemedicine services and has formed mobile medical units to reach underserved populations. However, these programs often need ongoing funding and coordination in order for the best cancer treatment innovations to be made available to expand the reach of services to underserved rural and urban areas. Successfully addressing rural healthcare limitations is necessary to ensure equitable cancer treatment throughout the country.

• Strong Safety Regulations: Stringent safety regulations are important to guarantee that medical treatments are both effective and safe. However, managing complex and detailed regulations for the review of innovative therapies such as cell cancer vaccines can slow down the process of patient access and the medical progression of therapies. Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA) is known to have stringent standards; protecting the public health is important and is relevant to preventing the inadvertent promotion of therapies that are ineffective or unsafe. The PMDA does prolong clinical trials and slow down time to market adoption. For companies such as Astellas, Chugai, et al., their ability to accommodate the regulations while they uplift compliance to be meaningfully evaluated and ultimately marketed is a large challenge they cope with. With a culture of safety and science, the regulatory environment creates significant delays in the opportunity for innovations to be commercialized in a time efficient manner.

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Opportunities

• Public-Private Partnerships: Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are collaborations between governments and private companies to cost-share and jointly advance projects in health care. For cell cancer vaccines, the importance of PPPs is tied to the distribution of costs, risk sharing, and accelerating R&D. The Japanese government, through its assigned agencies (mostly METI), is trying to move the needle on medical innovations both through sponsorships and incentives. Consider the research consortia and funding opportunities they provide. Chugai or Astellas, for instance, were able to obtain governmental help to support their product’s R&D for a cancer vaccine.

• AI & Big Data: AI and Big Data are transforming health care from analysis of large clinical and genomic data sets to 1) identifying patterns that help determine patient response to specific treatments and 2) informing treatment decisions. With the ability to inform the design of clinical trials, large data sets and AI can also identify selective antigens when developing cancer vaccines. Chugai Pharmaceutical’s use of AI in developing BRY10 and by applying their MALEXA platform to develop the drug is an example of how AI and big data can speed the drug discovery process. Examples like this showcase the continued investment and magnitude that will ultimately be offered by AI and big data in the dynamics of cancer treatments in Japan.

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Category Wise Insights

By Vaccine Type

• Preventive cancer vaccines: Preventive cancer vaccines boost the immune response to recognize and combat cancer-causing agents before cancer develops. These vaccines are offered to at-risk individuals in efforts to prevent cancers from developing or reduce the chances of the cancer developing. In 2024, the who made history by approving Cecolin®, the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) treatment, for a single-dose vaccination, indicating the clinical efficacy of the vaccine to prevent cervical cancer with one dose. In Japan, the Ministry of Health has taken the push for HPV vaccination by providing vaccines to more than 225,000 girls through catch-up program efforts, making a significant action to improve outcomes against cervical cancer and improve public health initiatives. These examples are just some of the many being highlighted globally to focus on external factors influencing expressions of the disease by vaccination.

• Therapeutic cancer vaccines: Therapeutic cancer vaccines work for the treatment of an existing cancer and boost immune responses to target and kill existing cancer cells. These therapeutic vaccines are provided to patients who already have cancer to improve survival from cancer and quality of life. In 2024, results from a phase 3 trial of the five-peptide S-588410 vaccine for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma were published with a proposed vaccine to promote immune responses improving disease-free survival time frames, which could have significant impacts on the future promise of peptide vaccines as an efficacious treatment for cancer.

• Oncolytic viruses: Oncolytic viruses are specially engineered viruses that have the unique capability of selectively infecting and killing cancer cells without harming normal cells. In addition, they stimulate the immune response to assist the immune system to detect and subsequently destroy the cancer in a two-pronged treatment approach. In 2021, Daiichi Sankyo’s DELYTACT (teserpaturev/G47∆) became the first oncolytic virus therapy to be approved in Japan, securing conditional approval from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare for the treatment of malignant glioma, largely for patients who have residual or recurrent glioblastoma following chemoradiation. This development marks a notable accomplishment in Japan’s history as the country’s first oncolytic virus therapy for the treatment of cancer.

By Indication

• Prostate cancer: Prostate cancer is a common cancer that arises within the prostate gland, which is part of the male reproductive system. The risk of prostate cancer increases with age. On June 26th, 2023, Japan’s Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare approved darolutamide (Nubeqa) for the treatment of metastatic prostate cancer following the positive outcome of the Phase III ARASENS trial. This approval showcases Japan’s steps to provide advanced treatment options to cancer patients. Moreover, more than one million prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests are performed each year in Japan, each of these a first step towards the identification of prostate cancer with early detection allowing for treatment to be initiated in a timely manner.

• Cervical cancer: Cervical cancer occurs in the cervix, which is the lower part of the uterus, and is largely attributed to persistent infections with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types. After a hiatus of parliamentary promotion of HPV vaccines due to a number of issues after a number of reports of adverse effects related to the vaccines, Japan resumed its promotion of HPV vaccination in 2021. This included free HPV vaccines to newer cohorts of women (born between 1997-2005) who had missed the vaccine opportunities until the parliament stopped the promotion of the vaccines. By 2022, more than 225,000 girls had received the first dose of their catch-up HPV vaccination under this program. This public health initiative should be recognized as a very strong initiative of Japan to lower cervical cancer prevalence through immunization.

By Technology

• Peptide-based vaccines: Peptide-based cancer vaccines are composed of short, linear sequences of amino acids that closely resemble tumor antigens and produce an immune response to cancer cells. They are highly specific, patient specific, and are expanding in use in combination with other therapies for the treatment of cancer. In 2024, an interim survivor-based study of a five-peptide cancer vaccine, S-588410, as an adjuvant therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma reported positive findings in a phase 3 trial. The study found an increase in immune responses in patients and an increase in disease-free survival after surgery, which provided promising early data. These findings in creating a new peptide-based therapeutic expand that possibility for a successful therapy through the correlation with efficacy in fighting cancer.

• Vector-based vaccines: Vector-based vaccines utilize viruses that have been genetically engineered to insert tumor-specific genetic instructions into the body to elicit an immune response to the cancer cells. The vector-based vaccine is critical to a personalized approach to immunotherapy due to its specificity to target cancer cells and ability to introduce new cancer targets. Recently at the ASCO meeting in 2023, Transgene Biotek and NEC Corporation provided promising clinical data on their vector-based vaccine TG4050. Known specific immune activation was robust, while the disease-free cohort of patients warranted the development of a Phase II trial in late 2024. These developments extend the growing possibilities for the use of vector-based vaccines in personalized cancer care.

• DNA/RNA-based vaccines: DNA/RNA-based vaccines utilize genetic instructions to stimulate the body’s own cells to produce proteins that are tumor specific, and stimulate an immune response against the cancer. DNA/RNA-based vaccines have high potential because they are rapidly designed and target multiple tumor antigens. In 2024, NEC Bio B.V. shared interim study results for NECVAX-NEO1, a DNA-based, AI-personalized vaccine, from an ongoing phase 1 study. The interim study data demonstrated acceptable safety and immune activation, suggesting that DNA/RNA-based platforms will continue to evolve.

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Impact of Latest Tariff Policies

Japan supports the importing of cancer vaccines with a zero duty (i.e. % an incalculable percentage tariff) under the HS code 3002.41, per Japan Customs. This zero tariff, backed by arrangements such as the CPTPP and the USA-Japan Trade Agreement, enables biopharma companies to import cancer vaccines for less than they otherwise would through savings on import tariffs. Leading companies in this space (e.g., Takeda Pharmaceutical, Daiichi Sankyo, and Astellas Pharma) benefit through improved access to the global vaccine marketplaces to source import components.

This tariff arrangement facilitates cross border collaboration on R&D projects and on the ability for patients to access advanced therapies in a timely manner. All of these factors enabled favourable tariffs to effectively enhance the development pipeline of Japan’s cell cancer vaccine production capacities. As such, both output and affordability are on the rise in Canada.

Jacked-up more conducive degrees of supportive, and in some instances pro-terrorist as METI puts it, government policies have also been leveraged by Japanese national agencies (e.g. Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, or METI) and have played a significant part in bolstering vaccine research by Japanese companies and support of foreign companies reducing trade barriers. For instance, based on initiatives of the Healthcare Policy 2023, created to support investment in cancer immunotherapy and provide financing for clinical trials.

Tariffs also provide consistency in buydown pricing and help Chugai and Otsuka Holdings to develop decent long-term strategic planning and lessen uncertainty for importing cancer vaccines. Tariffs help encourage engagement by foreign companies entering the Japanese market. These supportive policies also match Japan’s national health goal to decrease cancer related mortality by allocating and investing in advanced types of health technologies for patient access. Therefore, these above tariffs govern a method of public health outcomes.

On the global front, Japan’s tariff policies have made it an attractive export destination for innovative cancer vaccines. This has led to stronger partnerships with Western biotech firms and improved access to mRNA- and peptide-based platforms. As more countries adjust tariffs to align with Japan’s open approach, global vaccine trade flows are becoming more streamlined. The World Trade Organization (WTO) notes Japan as a leading example of strategic tariff use in biopharma. In this environment, companies like Takeda and Daiichi Sankyo can compete effectively on a global scale. Tariff clarity ultimately fuels innovation and cross-border therapeutic access.

Report Scope

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Key Developments

In recent years, the Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market has experienced several crucial changes as the players in the market strive to grow their geographical footprint and improve their product line and profits by using synergies.

• In October 2021, Oncolys BioPharma and Chugai Pharmaceutical agreed to terminate their exclusive license agreement for the oncolytic viral immunotherapy OBP-301 (Telomelysin), originally signed in April 2019, with all rights to the drug returning to Oncolys upon termination, which will occur by October 2022 at the latest. The decision was made because Chugai determined that continuing the collaboration would not maximize the product value of OBP-301, though this move is not related to any efficacy or safety concerns regarding the drug. Chugai will continue ongoing clinical trials in Japan until the transition is complete, and there will be no milestone payments exchanged between the companies as a result of the termination.

• In March 2024, Japan’s NEC Corporation, in collaboration with Transgene and BostonGene, expanded its partnership to advance the clinical development of TG4050, a personalized neoantigen cancer vaccine for head and neck cancer patients. The companies will conduct a randomized Phase I/II trial, leveraging BostonGene’s molecular profiling and high-throughput sequencing to enable rapid and comprehensive analysis of patient tumors. TG4050, developed on Transgene’s myvac® platform and powered by NEC’s AI-driven Neoantigen Prediction System, aims to stimulate a patient’s immune system to target and destroy tumor cells, with the collaboration streamlining the delivery of individualized vaccines and supporting future personalized cancer treatments

These important changes facilitated the companies’ ability to widen their portfolios, to bolster their competitiveness, and to exploit the possibilities for growth available in the Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market. This phenomenon is likely to persist since most companies are struggling to outperform their rivals in the market.

Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market Competitive Landscape

The Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market is highly competitive, with a large number of product providers globally. Some of the key players in the market include:

• Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited
• Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited
• Astellas Pharma Inc.
• Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.
• Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd.
• Eisai Co. Ltd.
• Shionogi & Co. Ltd.
• Oncolys BioPharma Inc
• CYTLIMIC Inc.
• Takara Bio Inc.
• Tella Inc
• BrightPath Biotherapeutics Co. Ltd.
• ImmunoFrontier Inc.
• OncoTherapy Science Inc
• Boston Biomedical Inc
• Others

These firms apply a sequence of strategies to enter the market, including innovations, mergers and acquisitions, as well as collaboration.

The Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market is experiencing dynamic growth, driven by leading pharmaceutical companies such as Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited, Astellas Pharma Inc., Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., and Otsuka Holdings Co., Ltd. These firms are investing heavily in advanced immunotherapies, particularly peptide-based and DNA/RNA-based vaccines aimed at stimulating targeted immune responses against cancer cells. Chugai, for example, is using its proprietary MALEXA® AI platform to accelerate the development of innovative cancer vaccines, while Astellas continues to expand its oncology pipeline with a focus on personalized therapies.

Support from Japan’s government has further accelerated this progress, with agencies like the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) actively encouraging public-private partnerships and funding collaborative research. A notable milestone came in 2021 when Daiichi Sankyo’s DELYTACT (teserprov/G47∆)—an oncolytic virus therapy—received conditional approval from the MHLW for treating recurrent glioblastoma, making it Japan’s first approved oncolytic virus-based cancer therapy. These supportive policies and regulatory advancements are fostering a fertile environment for innovation

Companies like Takeda and Otsuka Holdings are also making strategic investments in cancer immunotherapy research. Takeda is expanding its clinical research infrastructure and forging global alliances to accelerate the development of novel vaccine candidates, while Otsuka is exploring synergistic treatments that combine vaccines with other immune-modulating agents. As Japan continues to prioritize precision oncology and harness technologies like AI and big data, its cell cancer vaccine market is well-positioned to deliver cutting-edge, globally competitive therapies.

The Japan Cell Cancer Vaccine Market is segmented as follows:

By Vaccine Type

• Preventive Cancer Vaccines
• Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines
• Oncolytic Viruses

By Indication

• Prostate Cancer
• Cervical Cancer

By Technology

• Peptide-based Vaccines
• Vector-based Vaccines
• DNA/RNA-based Vaccines