Pharmaceutical industry - number of new substances 1998-2022

Between 2018 and 2022, American companies introduced a total of 159 new chemical or biological substances. Within the same period, Europe and Japan produced 74 and 46 new entities, respectively.

Total R&D spending

In 2022, the global pharmaceutical industry spent an estimated 238 billion U.S. dollars on research and development. Global pharmaceutical R&D expenditures have been increasing with each consecutive year since 2012 and are expected to keep growing: worldwide R&D spending is projected to reach over 270 billion U.S. dollars by 2026.

Patent expiration

Once the patent protection date of a branded drug expires, other pharmaceutical companies can take this opportunity to make cheaper versions of the original (a.k.a. generics). In 2022, about 21 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of prescription drug revenue was at risk due to patent expiration worldwide. In that same year, over 480 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of revenue was generated through branded prescription medication in the U.S., while an estimated total of around 92 billion U.S. dollars was earned through branded and unbranded generics.