PhRMA member companies have invested more than $900 billion in the search for new treatments and cures over the last decade, including more than $110 billion in 2025 alone.
Why it matters: These figures represent an industry that goes to work every day for families caring for children with rare diseases, cancer patients hoping for new options and patients living with chronic conditions that currently have no cure.
The big picture: This investment only happens because of a uniquely American ecosystem that makes scientific breakthroughs possible through smart policies, like:
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Strong IP protections that provide the certainty needed for companies to invest in the lengthy, risky and costly process of developing new medicines.
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Public-private partnerships, enabled by voluntary technology transfer, that let the private sector take on the capital, regulatory, and manufacturing risk of developing federally funded science into medicines for American patients.
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Predictable, efficient, science-based regulatory environment that is considered the global gold standard.
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Market-based incentives that reward innovation.
The bottom line: We must ensure the United States continues to be the global leader in biomedical research and development. This leadership means medicines are available here first, our economy is stronger and we have a more secure America. To sustain this leadership, we need to protect the policies that keep America in the lead.
*Figures come from PhRMA's Annual Membership Survey, which tracks company-reported R&D spending across our industry.
Jocelyn Ulrich
Jocelyn Ulrich, MPH, is Vice President of Policy and Research at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). At PhRMA, she is responsible for developing legislative and policy analysis and research studies on a range of issues impacting innovative biopharmaceutical companies including intellectual property issues, FDA policy issues, the R&D process, the value of innovation, and other issue areas impacting the environment for innovation. In addition to her experience at PhRMA she has over 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry at Pfizer, Human Genome Sciences, and EMD Serono in roles in clinical research management, investigator-initiated and collaborative research, and global policy and corporate affairs. Jocelyn holds an MPH in global health policy and management from New York University.
Jocelyn Ulrich