Drug firms spend more on marketing than research

[Euphoric]

Study finds U.S. industry spends twice as much promoting products as it does on development
Jan 03, 2008 04:30 AM
OTTAWA–Drug companies spend almost twice as much on marketing and promoting their products than on research and development, a new study says.


In their analysis of data from two market research companies, Marc-André Gagnon and Joel Lexchin of York University found that American drug companies spent $57.5 billion on promotional activities in 2004.


By comparison, spending on industrial pharmaceutical research and development in the United States was $31.5 billion in the same year, according to a report by the National Science Foundation.


The types of marketing in the $57.5 billion figure, compiled using data from market research companies IMS and CAM, included free samples, direct-to-consumer drug advertising, meetings between company representatives and doctors to promote products, email promotions and direct mail, said the study.


The findings, published this week in the journal Public Library of Science Medicine, confirm "the public image of a marketing-driven industry," the study authors say.


It's not a surprising conclusion, says Steve Morgan, a University of British Columbia expert on pharmaceutical industry economics.


"It's been known for a long time that manufacturers of prescription drugs spend more money on marketing than they do on research and development," says Morgan.


The pharmaceutical industry has for decades promoted itself as innovative and driven by research. Critics, however, contend that drug companies have acted based on market-driven profiteering.

http://www.thestar.com/article/290642

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