Costs of Drug Development and Research and Development Intensity in the US, 2000-2018

Understanding the cost of drug development can help inform the development of policies to reduce costs, encourage innovation, and improve patient access to drugs.

To estimate the cost of drug development by therapeutic class and trends in pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) intensity over time. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this economic evaluation study, an analytical model of drug development constructed using public and proprietary sources that collectively cover data from 2000 to 2018 was used to estimate the cost of bringing a drug to market, overall and for specific therapeutic classes. The analysis for the study was completed in October 2020. Main Outcomes and Measures: Three measures of development cost from nonclinical through postmarketing stages were estimated: mean out-of-pocket cost or cash outlay, mean expected cost, and mean expected capitalized cost. Pharmaceutical R&D intensity, defined as the ratio of R&D spending to total sales, from 2008 to 2019, based on the time frame for available data, was also analyzed.