Johan Westblad

Biography

Mr. Johan Westblad has 17 years of experience from the life science industry in Japan and speaks Japanese fluently. He joined JCRO in 2014 as responsible for business development activities. In his role, he develops long-term relations with customers to ensure that the most optimal solution is offered, while helping to facilitate communication and understanding of the Japanese environment. From a foreigner’s lens, Japan seems like a difficult market to enter. Indeed, several good companies have underperformed or had to withdraw. Japanese companies on the other hand face the challenges of globalization as overreliance on the domestic market is not an option anymore. Over the years, I have learnt that short-cuts can however be made and misunderstandings straightened out, if you work with the right the partner. Seeing the need for new solutions, Mr. Westblad started the life science consultancy Aurora Partners K.K. also in 2014, which provides business development, alliance management and strategic advice for both Japanese and foreign customers. In his previous capacity, Mr. Westblad worked a number of years for Quintiles, primarily with business development. He drove the development of In-Country Clinical Caretaker (ICCC) services and regulatory strategies for foreign biopharmaceutical companies entering the Japanese market. Before that, Mr. Westblad served at the Swedish government agency Invest Sweden at the Embassy of Sweden in Tokyo, being responsible for inward investment in the life science area. Mr. Westblad has an MBA with finance specialization from Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University and a Master of Science in International Business from the School of Economics, Commerce and Law, Gothenburg University.

Research Interest

Pharmacy