The figure was released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and Burrill & Company in a report to coincide with PhRMA's 50th anniversary.
Over the last seven years America's pharmaceutical research companies have consistently invested around 18 per cent of sales into R&D, five times more than the average US manufacturing company, and this commitment to development has produced results.
For instance, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stated in a recent report: "Many examples exist of major therapeutic gains achieved by the industry in recent years...anecdotal and statistical evidence suggests that the rapid increases that have been observed in drug-related R&D spending have been accompanied by major therapeutic gains in available drug treatments."
This investment means there are now more than 2,700 medicines in development in the US for nearly 4,600 different indications, up from 2,000 medicines five years ago.
PhRMA believe that policies in the US foster innovation to a greater extent than those in the rest of the world, enabling US companies to have over 600 cancer treatments, over 300 medicines specific to rare diseases and more than 275 medicines for heart disease and stroke in the pipeline.
They go on to say that this dwarfs development in the rest of the world and an EU white paper from earlier this year suggests they are aware of the competitive advantage currently held by the US and are keen to remedy the situation.
The European Medical Research Council's (EMRC) report stated that non-market sector spending on biomedical research and development by the original 15 EU countries in 2004 was 0.17 percent, compared with between 0.37 and 0.40 per cent in the US.
It also found that European medical industries invest more in US-based research than in EU-based research.
The support of public funding in the US is believed to provide 500,000 jobs and the positive attitude towards public-private partnerships in pharmaceutical development appears to be paying dividends.
Creating an attractive environment for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to invest in secures economic growth and creates a healthier workforce, according to the EMRC white paper.
There are signs that EU heads of state are responding, with France's Nicolas Sarkozy and Germany's Angela Merkel both launching initiatives to promote research upon obtaining power.
In addition British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is quoted in Science 6th July 2007 as saying: "The government's long-term vision is to make Britain one of the best places in the world for science, research and innovation."
These ambitions from individual countries and a collective commitment by the EU to implement the EMRC's recommendation that public funding of medical research in the EU should double in the next 10 years may help close the gap on the US.
However, in the meantime PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin's belief that, "America's pharmaceutical and biotechnology research companies continue to pave the way for the development of future treatments and cures," will in all likelihood ring true.
