In 2011, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded discoveries contributed $69 billion to the nation\u2019s gross domestic product (GDP) and supported seven million jobs. In 2020 alone, the US biomedical and pharmaceutical private sector generated more than $1.4 trillion in economic output.<\/p>\n
From Reece et al. (Health Affairs 2025<\/a>) <\/p>\n In addition to economic output, private-sector R&D funding significantly outpaces public sector funding. <\/p>\n NIH funding for the 18 FDA-approved therapies totaled $0.670 billion, whereas private sector funding (excluding post-approval funding) totaled $44.3 billion. A logistic regression relating the levels of public and private funding to the probability of FDA approval indicates a positive and significant relationship between private sector funding and the likelihood of FDA approval (p\u2009\u2264\u20090.0004). The relationship between public funding and the likelihood of FDA approval is found to be negative and not statistically significant.<\/em><\/p>\n