FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 18, 2000
Contact: Jackie Cottrell, 202-835-3467
40 NEW MEDICINES IN 1999; $26.4 BILLION PROJECTED FOR R&D IN 2000 TO ENSURE MORE MEDICINES IN 21ST CENTURY, SAYS PhRMA
Washington, D.C. -- In 1999, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies added 40 new treatments -- 35 drugs and 5 biologics -- to the nation's medicine chest, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) announced today. The medicines target 36 diseases that affect 545 million Americans and cost society an estimated $600 billion a year.
The medicines approved in 1999 by the Food and Drug Administration include two for AIDS and AIDS-related conditions; three new antibiotics, five new cancer medicines, two medicines for type 2 diabetes, two medicines for influenza and new treatments for heart arrhythmia, osteoarthritis, Parkinson's, epilepsy, ulcers, obesity and several other diseases.
"The 40 medicines approved this year bring the total for the 1990s to 370 -- up from 239 the previous decade," noted PhRMA President and CEO Alan F. Holmer. "And companies plan to increase investment in R&D by another $2.4 billion this year -- to a record-shattering $26.4 billion. This commitment to research means that patients will have even more new medicines in the future."
The 35 drugs were reviewed and approved by the FDA in an average of 12.6 months, while the five biologics were approved in an average of 17.1 months -- the tail end of the lengthy process of discovering, developing, and testing medicines after many years of discovery, development and clinical trials. Holmer attributed the expeditious review times in large part to the gains made under the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997. Under this law, companies that sponsor new drug applications pay user fees, which enables FDA to hire additional reviewers.
The projected $26.4 billion R&D investment by PhRMA member companies in 2000 represents an 10.1 percent increase over last year's figure. This investment is 20.3 percent of total U.S. sales and exports -- a higher ratio of R&D to revenues than virtually any other U.S. industry.
Domestic R&D continues to increase at a much faster rate than spending by U.S. companies on R&D abroad, Holmer noted. Domestic R&D is expected to increase by 11.8 percent this year, to $22.5 billion, while R&D abroad by U.S.-based companies is expected to increase by only 1.2 percent. Why is the U.S. increase so much larger? The U.S. has an environment that nurtures biomedical research. That's why the U.S. by far leads the world in drug discovery and development. PhRMA hopes that U.S. policymakers will continue to foster that environment.
"The industry's ever-increasing investment in research, the improving efficiency of the Food and Drug Administration, the quantum leaps in science now being made, and the already full pharmaceutical pipeline provide concrete hope of continuing and accelerated progress against disease," said Holmer.
The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country's leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, happier, and more productive lives. Investing more than $26 billion in 2000 in discovering and developing new medicines, PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures. PhRMA Internet Address: http://www.phrma.org
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