Singapore, March 25, 2008:  New statistics reveal that R&D investment in new medicines by the US biopharmaceutical industry was $58.8 billion in 2007, according to a combined analysis conducted by Burrill & Company, a San Francisco based global leader in life sciences whose principal activities are in Private Equity, Venture Capital, Merchant Banking and Media and the Washington DC-based Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

 

PhRMA-member companies alone spent an estimated $44.5 billion on pharmaceutical R&D last year -- up from the previous record of $43 billion in 2006, according to a PhRMA survey. The Burrill & Company analysis shows that non-PhRMA pharmaceutical research companies in the US spent an estimated $14.3 billion on R&D last year, compared with $12.2 billion in 2006.

 

Mr G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company said, "The steady growth of R&D investment continues to support important advances in better medicines and new treatments for patients made by research scientists and physicians."

 

Mr Billy Tauzin, President and CEO, PhRMA, said, "America's biopharmaceutical research companies continue to pave the way for the development of future treatments and cures. Simply put, R&D is the lifeblood of US pharmaceutical innovators. Last year's investment builds on over 25 years of growth in R&D spending as our researchers continue the search for new and improved therapies to tackle a wide range of diseases and conditions such as cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS and Alzheimer's."

 

Today, there are more than 2,700 medicines in development in the US for 4,600 different indications. The current pipeline includes more than 600 medicines to treat cancer, over 300 specific to rare diseases and more than 275 medicines for heart disease and stroke. This activity dwarfs the pipelines in other parts of the world, such as Europe and Japan, partly reflecting existing policies in the US that foster innovation.

 

"The preservation and strengthening of these policies -- including our market-based health care system, incentives for research and strong intellectual property rights -- are critical if we as a nation are serious about maintaining our leadership in pharmaceutical R&D. Patients in the US and around the world deserves no less," said Mr. Tauzin.

 

Burrill & Company computes R&D expenses among other key financial parameters on a quarterly basis for the universe of US publicly listed biotech companies through its reports on the industry (sourced from company reports filed with the SEC).