R&D spending share of top pharmaceutical companies 2022

In 2022, pharmaceutical companies AstraZeneca spent just over 22 percent of its prescription drug revenues on research and development. In general, big pharmaceutical companies spend around 20 percent of their revenues on research and development.

Global R&D spending

In 2022, the pharmaceutical industry spent some 244 billion U.S. dollars on research and development, which is a decrease of five billion compared to the previous year. By 2028, expenditures are expected to reach a total of over 300 billion U.S. dollars. Some 21,300 prescription drugs were in the 2023 R&D pipeline, a global number that has been growing with each consecutive year. The drug count has almost tripled since 2006 and is set to increase even further in the future.

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. The company’s top product in 2022 was Tagrisso, which is used in the treatment of certain types of non-small cell lung carcinoma. The product generated around 5.4 billion U.S. dollars in revenue that year. Revenue earned through Tagrisso has increased significantly over the last years.