Despite a total research budget just one-quarter that of the largest pharmaceutical firms, since 2003, public biotech companies have shepherded more new molecular entities (NMEs) to approval than big pharma. This success is reflected by increased in-licensing by the pharma sector. At the same time, the US Food and Drug Administration is now seeing more New Drug Applications and Investigational New Drug Submissions, many of these compounds (three in every ten) originating from groups outside the United States.

Big pharma defined as 15 largest pharmaceutical companies by market cap. Source: Ernst & Young
Source: Food and Drug Administration
Source: Ernst & Young
&Includes biologics. Source: Food and Drug Administration
Based on an analysis of the top ten pharma companies. Source: Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development
&Includes biologics. Source: Food and Drug Administration