Drug Industry Spends Nearly Twice as Much for Marketing as for Research

Drug companies spends almost twice as much on the marketing and promotion of drugs than they do for research and development.

An analysis showed that U.S. drug companies spent $57.5 billion on promotional activities in 2004, but only $31.5 for research.

The authors of the analysis say that their findings confirm “the public image of a marketing-driven industry and provides an important argument to petition in favor of transforming the workings of the industry in the direction of more research and less promotion.”

The authors also believe that their figure of $57.5 billion for marketing is most likely an underestimate, since it did not include tactics such as drug company ghostwriting of articles in medical journals, or the off-label promotion of drugs.


Sources:

* Eurekalert January 2, 2008