The editors of R&D Magazine and analysts from Batelle expect that total R&D spending in the US will rise 2.85% to $338.3 billion in 2007. Industry spending is forecast to account for $243.9 billion, a 3.30% increase from 2006, and academia is predicted to do $52.2 billion worth of work on R&D, a 1.83% increase. Within industry, the biopharmaceutical segment is expected to spend $77.59 billion on R&D in 2007, a 7.5% increase from 2006. The chemical industry is forecast to tally $9.57 billion in R&D expenditures, up 3.4%. Development is expected to outpace research in 2007: R&D Magazine predicts that $63.3 billion will go to basic research, $72.1 billion will go to applied research and $203 billion will go to development. Sources of concern for the future of US R&D include the disproportionate increase of federal funding for defense, the rise of countries such as China and India as R&D powers in their own right, and the declining strength of science education in the US.

Source: R&D Magazine