The Pistoia Alliance kindly invited Matador CEO, John Bolger to introduce the global membership to a few of the obstacles and opportunities associated with actively bringing Japanese pharmaceutical companies into the Pistoia Alliance.

Before leaving Japan for London, John spoke extensively with several senior R&D leaders in top ten Japanese pharmaceutical organisations. Compiling their diverse opinions into a coherent presentation was a challenge but ultimately there were few surprises. Japan has a very unique history that can make global collaboration a challenge and this culture gap rose to the top of the list. Of course, this is also why Matador was founded - to leverage our diversity to bridge the gap and ensure successful partnerships.

However, the willingness on behalf of the Japanese as well as the opportunities for true global collaboration were welcomed by the London audience who followed up with an extraordinary amount of post presentation discussion. It was heartening to see that the global Pistoia Alliance family are open-armed and looking forward to working with their Japanese peers.