CBO report supports biopharma view of value of M&A

A Congressional Budget Office report on R&D in the pharmaceutical industry released Wednesday charts dramatic increases in industry investment on R&D and links the trend to an increase in the number of new drug approvals in the U.S. CBO’s analysis supports the biopharma industry’s opposition to initiatives by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) and the Biden administration’s Federal Trade Commission to limit large pharma company acquisitions of smaller biotechs.

“In 2019, the pharmaceutical industry spent $83 billion dollars on R&D,” CBO stated. “Adjusted for inflation, that amount is about 10 times what the industry spent per year in the 1980s.” It also found that “between 2010 and 2019, the number of new drugs approved for sale increased by 60 percent compared with the previous decade, with a peak of 59 new drugs approved in 2018.”...