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For the first time in the post–World War II era, the federal government no longer funds a majority of the basic research carried out in the United States. Data from ongoing surveys by the National Science Foundation (NSF) show that federal agencies provided only 44% of the $86 billion spent on basic research in 2015. The federal share, which topped 70% throughout the 1960s and '70s, stood at 61% as recently as 2004 before falling below 50% in 2013.
The sharp drop in recent years is the result of two contrasting trends—a flattening of federal spending on basic research over the past decade and a significant rise in corporate funding of fundamental science since 2012.
[...] The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is the major driver behind the recent jump in corporate basic research [...] investment in basic research soared from $3 billion in 2008 to $8.1 billion in 2014, according to the most recent NSF data by business sector. Spending on basic research by all U.S. businesses nearly doubled over that same period, from $13.9 billion to $24.5 billion.
Basic research comprises only about one-sixth of the country's spending on all types of R&D, which totaled $499 billion in 2015. Applied makes up another one-sixth, whereas the majority, some $316 billion, is development. Almost all of that is funded by industry and done inhouse, as companies try to convert basic research into new drugs, products, and technologies that they hope will generate profits.
(Score: 1) by zugedneb on Friday March 10 2017, @02:50PM (2 children)
I actually wonder something. If we didn't have any drug developed after let's say 1950 how much less healthy (if at all) would society be?
not all drugs are made by corporations.
i also would like to see the list of drugs made in the past 67 years, but only those made or financed by governments around the world.
then see the list of corporate only drugs.
old saying: "a troll is a window into the soul of humanity" + also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ajax
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 10 2017, @03:36PM
not all drugs are made by corporations
True, some are made by private companies such as Boehringer Ingelheim.
[government only vs corporate only]
"Only" makes things very difficult. Does government-funded basic science not directly related count? Does for-profit QC, manufacture, and distribution count?
If you limit the definition to "discovery", then it was about 15% from 1998-2007 that were discovered in academic labs. I don't know of any other references off-hand.
http://blogs.sciencemag.org/pipeline/archives/2016/02/02/drugs-purely-from-academia [sciencemag.org]
(Score: 1) by khallow on Friday March 10 2017, @03:45PM
i also would like to see the list of drugs made in the past 67 years, but only those made or financed by governments around the world.
How about when a corporation bribes a government to chip in? Who actually is doing the finance in that situation?