According to new data from EvaluatePharma, the top pharmaceutical companies to increase their R&D budgets last year, percentage-wise, were Abbvie at 63%, Astrazeneca, up 33% and Johnson & Johnson at 19%. Bristol-Myers Squibb also raised its R&D budget by 19%. Pfizer rounded out the top five with a 13% increase. Glaxosmithkline’s R&D budget decreased the most with a 15% drop, followed closely by Merck and Co., whose R&D budget declined 14%. Sanofi and Novartis’ R&D budgets fell 9% and 8%, respectively, and Eli Lilly’s R&D budget nominally decreased by 1%.

In regards to expenditures, Roche spent the most on drug development last year with a $10 billion investment. Over the past five years, however, Abbvie has increased its budget for development labs more than any other major pharmaceutical company, largely due to the company’s hepatitis C R&D and move into the oncology sector. Abbvie’s growth is expected to moderate in the next few years. According to Astrazeneca, the company spends 40% of its R&D budget on oncology. Bristol-Myers has also increased its immune-oncology R&D over the past five years, which also largely accounts for the rise in its R&D budget.
Source: EP Vantage