Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Drug Discovery: Overview

Drug Discovery: Overview

Drug discovery is a multifaceted process involving extensive screening, testing, and optimization of lead compounds to identify potential new drugs for therapeutic use. It combines several approaches, including screening large numbers of natural products, chemical modification of known active molecules, identification of new drug targets, and rational design based on biological mechanisms and drug-receptor structure. These approaches are carried out in both academic research laboratories and...

Clinical Trials: Overview

Clinical Trials: Overview

Clinical development focuses on how the drug will interact with the human body and encompasses four key phases of clinical trials, each serving a specific purpose in assessing the safety and effectiveness of new drugs. These phases overlap and build upon one another. Phase I involves a small group of healthy volunteers (typically 20-80 individuals) or, in cases where significant toxicity is expected, patients with the targeted disease, such as cancer or AIDS. The volunteers are tested for...

Preclinical Development: Overview

Preclinical Development: Overview

Preclinical development consists of a series of tests that ensure the safety and efficacy of a new therapeutic compound before it is tested in humans. There are four main phases to this process. First, safety pharmacology tests are conducted to ensure the drug does not produce any acutely harmful effects. These tests examine parameters such as bronchoconstriction, cardiac dysrhythmias, blood pressure changes, and ataxia. Next, preliminary toxicological testing is performed to determine the...

Drug Regulation

Drug Regulation

Drug regulation encompasses the management of drug usage by evaluating its safety and efficacy through assessments conducted by regulatory authorities. Regrettably, the history of drug regulation is marred by several catastrophic events. One such incident is the Elixir Sulfanilamide tragedy, in which the toxic compound diethyl glycol was included in a sweet-tasting medication, leading to numerous fatalities. This event prompted the enactment of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938. Under...

Drug Administration and Therapy Phases: Overview

Drug Administration and Therapy Phases: Overview

Drugs, the chemical agents used in diagnosing, treating, or preventing diseases, undergo a four-phase process of development: pharmaceutic, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and therapeutic.
The pharmaceutical phase focuses on leveraging the physicochemical properties of the drug to design and manufacture an effective product. Variants include orally administered tablets or capsules, topical creams or ointments, and parenteral-delivery solutions or emulsions.
The pharmacokinetic phase...

Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs

Prescription, Nonprescription and Orphan Drugs

Prescription drugs require a prescription from a medical practitioner and can only be obtained from a pharmacy. They have many applications, including treating pain, anxiety, and hypertension.
The misuse and addiction to prescription drugs is a growing problem that can affect people of all age groups, specifically teenagers. This can happen when prescription medications are used in ways not intended by the prescriber, such as taking someone else's prescription or using medication for...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same journal

Healthcare Costs Following Medical Gender-Affirmation: Evidence From Whole-of-Population Australian Administrative Data.

Health economics·2026

Same journal

Lead in Drinking Water and Child Health: Evidence From Jackson, Mississippi.

Health economics·2026

Same journal

Health on the Move: The Impact of Poverty Alleviation Relocation on Healthcare Utilization in China.

Health economics·2026

Same journal

The Effects of Compulsory Licensing: A Case Study of HIV Drugs.

Health economics·2026

Same journal

Beyond Tobacco Prevention: The Effects of Tobacco 21 Laws on Young Adults' Body Weight.

Health economics·2026

Same journal

Assessing the Estimands and Estimates of Hospitalization Rates in Health Economics and Clinical Medicine.

Health economics·2026

See all related articles

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System

Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System

Published on: December 11, 2016

Spending on new drug development1.

Christopher Paul Adams¹, Van Vu Brantner

¹Bureau of Economics, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580, USA. cadams@ftc.gov

Health Economics

|February 28, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

This study estimates average annual expenditure on new drug development at $27 million per drug, exceeding prior research. It details costs across clinical trial phases, providing a updated financial perspective on pharmaceutical R&D.

More Related Videos

Cost-Efficient Transcriptomic-Based Drug Screening

Cost-Efficient Transcriptomic-Based Drug Screening

Published on: February 23, 2024

Regulatory T cells: Therapeutic Potential for Treating Transplant Rejection and Type I Diabetes

Regulatory T cells: Therapeutic Potential for Treating Transplant Rejection and Type I Diabetes

Published on: August 20, 2007

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jun 25, 2026

Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System

Drug Repurposing Hypothesis Generation Using the "RE:fine Drugs" System

Published on: December 11, 2016

Cost-Efficient Transcriptomic-Based Drug Screening

Cost-Efficient Transcriptomic-Based Drug Screening

Published on: February 23, 2024

Regulatory T cells: Therapeutic Potential for Treating Transplant Rejection and Type I Diabetes

Regulatory T cells: Therapeutic Potential for Treating Transplant Rejection and Type I Diabetes

Published on: August 20, 2007

Area of Science:

Pharmaceutical economics
Drug development research
Biopharmaceutical industry analysis

Background:

Previous estimates of new drug development expenditure by DiMasi et al. (2003, 2004) require updated analysis.
Publicly available financial and clinical trial data offer a new avenue for expenditure estimation.

Purpose of the Study:

To replicate and update expenditure estimates for new drug development using publicly available data.
To analyze drug development costs across different phases of human clinical trials.
To compare current estimates with those previously published by DiMasi et al.

Main Methods:

Utilized a 12-year panel of research and development (R&D) expenditure data from 183 publicly traded pharmaceutical firms.
Integrated firm-specific data on drugs in human clinical trials over the same 12-year period.
Estimated drug development expenditure by modeling the relationship between R&D spending and the number of drugs in development for 1682 company-years.

Main Results:

Average annual expenditure on drugs in human clinical trials is estimated at $27 million.
Phase I, II, and III clinical trials show estimated annual expenditures of $17 million, $34 million, and $27 million, respectively.
The study's expenditure estimates are somewhat greater than those reported in DiMasi et al. (2003, 2004).

Conclusions:

Publicly available data can be used to estimate new drug development expenditures.
Current estimates suggest higher overall costs for new drug development compared to previous survey-based findings.
Further analysis of expenditure by therapeutic category is also presented.