Japan has set April 2015 as the date for the establishment of the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (A-MED), an agency like the NIH, which will provide funding for health and medical research. Although not yet a physical entity, A-MED received a fiscal 2014 (ending March 2015) budget of $2.13 billion. The new agency unites the health and medical budgets of three agencies: the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT); the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare; and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A-MED is designed to coordinate administration of research funding from basic research through development and commercialization. To address concerns that basic research would be a low priority for A-MED, $373 million, or 37% of Grants-in-Aid, for medical, dental and pharmaceutical basic research will not be administered by A-MED. Likewise, MEXT’s Grants-in-Aid for basic research will also be excluded from A-MED. Future budget requests for A-MED will continue to be made by the three Ministries, and the A-MED Secretariat anticipates that A-MED’s fiscal 2016 budget will remain the same as this year.

Source: NSF Tokyo Region Office