The female contraception market in Japan is dominated by oral contraceptive pills (OCPs). The use of other contraceptive options such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and emergency pills is very limited Japan due to the high cost of procurement and lack of availability of over-the-counter options. Against this backdrop, Bayer offers substantial support to women seeking female contraception through OCPs and IUDs through various digital channels, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Contraceptives: Opportunity Analysis and Forecasts to 2027’, reveals that Japanese women’s most used contraceptive method is OCs, with IUDs a less popular option.

Key players, including Bayer (Triquilar), MSD (Marvelon), Janssen (Ortho), ASKA Pharmaceutical (Ange), and Kaken Pharmaceutical (Synphase) have an advantage in this space as they all market OCPs. In addition, Bayer offers an IUD, Mirena, while ASKA Pharmaceutical markets Norlevo, the only emergency contraceptive pill option available in Japan.

Using GlobalData’s ‘Digital Marketing Intelligence’ platform to identify digital support, there is a clear lack of branded digital support for women seeking female contraceptive options in Japan with only one branded website from Bayer (Betterl.bayer.jp/whc/mirena).

On the other hand, unbranded support is strong from players such as Bayer (Hininno-susume.jp and Search.femalelife.jp/hininno-susume), Kaken Pharmaceutical (Pill-page.com), and MSD (Hinin-style.jp and Pkg.navitime.co.jp/hinin-style). In addition, Bayer offers a medication support app for women taking its OCP Triquilar and a corresponding social media channel focusing on women’s health.

Neha Myneni, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Although OCPs are the main contraceptive methods used in Japan, digital support from key players is limited for these drugs. Bayer can further leverage its strong market presence to strengthen its place in Japan’s female contraception market. On the contrary, ASKA Pharmaceutical and other key players can explore the digital options to extend support for women seeking female contraceptive options through OCs and emergency pills.”

An analysis of traffic for the key websites over the last 12 months (Nov 2020 to Oct 2021) revealed significantly high traffic to Bayer’s unbranded website Hininno-susume.jp (~530,000 visits). Traffic to other unbranded websites stood at ~69,400 visits for MSD’s Hinin-style.jp and less than5,000 visits for Kaken Pharmaceutical’s Pill-page.com.

Bayer’s branded page Betterl.bayer.jp/whc/mirena (~203,000 visits) includes traffic for other indications. Other unbranded pages from Bayer (Search.femalelife.jp/hininno-susume) and MSD (Pkg.navitime.co.jp/hinin-style) offer HCP locator services for women seeking female contraceptives (hence, traffic not considered significant).

Myneni concludes: “Key players operating in the female contraceptives market are currently offering education around the need for contraception, various contraceptive methods available in Japan, and their advantages and disadvantages through their unbranded websites. With a strong presence in the unbranded digital space, Bayer can strengthen its position exploring the branded segment by focusing on multi-channel digital initiatives.”