The number of patients in Japan in the sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) category should break the 300,000 level this year. The number of patients is steadily growing at the rate of 10-15% a year. At the earliest, in less than 10 years the number of patients should double, reaching 600,000. There are some specialist physicians in the medical field who are saying things like, “2% of the population could be SAS patients.” Assuming a population of 100 million in Japan, this means the latent number of SAS patients is 2 million.

Among SAS treatments, the main one used is the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. The rental and sales market for this device is very active and increasing steadily. Estimations of the global market for the CPAP devices and the market in Japan are as per the circular graphs.

As for what Japanese companies are doing, Teijin Pharma and Fukuda Lifetech bring in products from abroad, mainly those from ResMed. Koike Medical is putting out a product developed in house called “Jusmine.” This clearly indicates that this is not a situation in which a single Japanese company in Japan is bringing in products limited to just one producer. There are numerous instances whereby CPAP devices are rented from a variety of companies, with a prescription issued by a physician. For example, Fukuda Lifetech, in addition to products made by ResMed, also handles products manufactured by Phillips, and Fisher & Paykel. Other companies are doing the same.

In the CPAP device business, among companies, there is one called MAGnet, which is comparatively new and unusual. This company, which was founded in 2008, began importing, selling, and renting CPAP devices in 2010. Currently it handles CPAP devices from the Taiwanese firm APEX Medical, the French firm Sefam Medical and the US firm Somnetics International. The company started off its first year in this business with sales of 2,000 units while for this year, as of September sales had totaled somewhat more than 5,000 units, with rentals totaling more than 1,000. This indicates a growth of over 3 fold in 4 years.

In Japan there is considerable distribution of products made overseas. Amidst this distribution, Koike Medical handles the only CPAP device made in Japan. Working together with specialized medical institutions, the company is aiming at establishing offices in China and Indonesia offering services to businessmen engaged in the Asian business market. It will bring about the reverse situation in which a Japanese made product, “Jusmine,” will be put onto the market overseas.

The importance of examination for SAS and concern regarding the points for calculating the insurance to be allotted eventually to this

Since SAS fell under the insurance system in 1998, the number of SAS patients has risen sharply and the market has been expanding in accordance with this. There was an incident whereby a Bullet Train driver dosed off and drove his train beyond its specified stop position at a station. After that, examination discovered that he had SAS. This has led to SAS becoming generally wide known among the public in Japan. In the Revised Road Traffic Law which went into effect on June 1 this year, measures were included to prevent car accidents from occurring caused by “specific illnesses.” There is a system of provisions for finding out accurately whether a person has a specific illness. These include “a system of questions by the Public Safety Commission regarding the condition of illnesses of those persons applying for a license.” There is “a system of penal provisions regarding false entries.” There is “a system of voluntary notification by physicians who had examined for specific illnesses.” There is “a provision for temporary suspension of the validity of a license if there is a reason for suspecting that a person has specific illnesses.” “Specific illnesses” include SAS so that the importance of examining for SAS is increasing.

With the number of SAS patients simply on the rise, there is some concern whether the number of points will remain the same or not for calculating the insurance compensation for examination. It seems that this will become a focal point for the CPAP device business.