Global R&D Investment by Biopharmaceutical Companies Was $276 Billion in 2021

Source: Amitah Chandra et al., "Comprehensive Measurement of Biopharmaceutical R&D Investment," Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (August 2024), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41573-024-00131-2

Commentary: In a recent article published by Amitah Chandra et al., the first ever comprehensive analysis of research and development (R&D) expenditure by the biopharmaceutical industry is conducted, where the authors find that all previous measures of R&D expenditure in this industry have grossly underestimated total research expenditures. Unlike previous studies, Chandra et al. account for not only large, public commercial companies, but also smaller public companies, development-stage firms, and private companies. Their estimate of $276 billion is significantly greater than previous estimates by pharmaceutical research groups such as PhRMA and Evaluate Pharma, who estimated $102.3 billion and $238 billion, respectively. R&D investment in the biopharmaceutical industry is essential for the discovery and development of new, life-saving drugs and therapies. This new report sheds light on the sheer size of R&D investment by biopharmaceutical companies. On average, these firms invested over one-quarter of all revenue on R&D expenses, making this industry the most research intensive in the world.