Pharma promotion doubles R&D expenses

Drug companies spend nearly twice as much on marketing in the U.S. as they do on research and development, according to a study in the January issue of PLoS Medicine.

After analyzing data from market research firms IMS Health and CAM Group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, an American industrial lobby group for research-based pharmaceutical companies, found that pharmaceutical companies spent $57.5 billion in domestic marketing in 2004. The National Science Foundation found companies spent $31.5 billion on pharmaceutical R&D spending that year.

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