US spending on drugs increased last year according to IQVIA research, which suggests the availability of innovative therapies was the major growth driver.
The new research – available here – shows that US spending on medicines grew 9.9% to $435 billion in 2023 with innovation in areas such as oncology, immunology, diabetes, and obesity helping to offset lower spending on COVID-19 vaccines and therapies.
Lead author Murray Aitken, executive director of the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, said “This is a story of two countervailing trends: A sharp decline in the use of COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, which is offset by a shifting usage pattern and a rapid acceleration in spending growth driven by innovation that is bringing more effective medicines to more patients.”
He predicted “Over the next five years, we can expect continued growth in spending on medicines in the US driven by innovation, but offset by notable expiration events and biosimilar introductions.”
In terms of therapeutic areas, the authors predict that oncology and obesity will drive growth through 2028 while diabetes, immunology and COVID-19 will contribute to decline.
The comments about innovation spending are in keeping with IQVIA’s performance in the first quarter, where revenue from research & Development Solutions (R&DS) was $2,095 million, up 3.4% year-on-year.
During IQVIA’s first quarter report earlier this month CEO Ari Bousbib said "The R&DS segment continued to see strong demand in the quarter, with healthy RFP growth. We anticipate R&DS will grow consistent with our prior expectations, bolstered by strong bookings and our industry leading backlog of over $30 billion."
This was echoed by CFO Ron Bruehlman, who told analysts on IQVIA’s Q1 call “We continue to see favorable forward-looking indicators in the clinical trial business, such as strong RFP flow, strong qualified pipeline growth and strong biotech funding.”
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