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Did you know that PhRMA member companies invested $65.5 billion in research and development (R&D) in 2016? Or that combined spending on brand medicines, generics and the supply chain account for 14 percent of total national health spending, with brands accounting for just half of this (7 percent)? Or that the United States accounts for two thirds of the world’s venture capital investments in high-growth biopharmaceutical startups?

These are but a few of the facts that can be found in the 2017 Biopharmaceutical Research Industry Profile and industry chart pack, Biopharmaceuticals In Perspective released today. These annual resources share wide-ranging data points and updates on advances in treatment, research and development, market dynamics, cost sharing trends, medicine spending trends, outcomes and savings and the industry’s economic impact.

Must-know industry facts include:

  • New medicines are making strides in reducing disease morbidity and mortality.

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  • 74 percent of all drugs in clinical development are potentially first-in-class medicines, meaning they use a completely new approach to fighting a disease.

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  • The biopharmaceutical industry’s average return on equity is 16.2 percent, similar to other industries including trucking, software and construction supplies.

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  • Negotiated savings on brand prescriptions are often not shared with pateints who are increasingly being asked to pay more out of pocket.

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  • Spending on brand prescription medicines only accounts for 7 percent of total annual healthcare spending.

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  • 5 percent of the population accounts for 50 percent of US health care spending.

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  • The biopharmaceutical industry accounts for 1 out of every 6 dollars spent on domestic R&D by US businesses.

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View the industry profile here and the chart pack here.

John Corea

John Corea is Deputy Vice President, Policy & Research at the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. At PhRMA, John commissions and oversees research projects that further policymakers’ and the public’s understanding of the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry and its role in the healthcare system. He manages a range of issues related to the economics of R&D, the economic impact of the biopharmaceutical industry, and putting the cost of medicines into context. In his more than two decades of experience in health policy and healthcare economics research and consulting, John has advised or consulted for stakeholders in nearly every corner of American health care. Before joining PhRMA, John spent the largest part of his career at The Lewin Group, a nationally-renowned health policy consulting firm based in Falls Church, Virginia. He has a BA in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

John Corea

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