Investigating investment in biopharmaceutical R&D.

Recent studies have highlighted a reduction in projected financial returns associated with biopharmaceutical R&D, owing to decreased productivity, increases in costs and flattening revenue per new drug, prompting calls for dramatic revisions to R&D models. On the basis of previous financial modelling, the simplest hypothesis would be that new investment in such R&D should be minimal and focused on biologics in preference to small molecules, as the internal rate of return on investment for biologics projects has been reported to be higher.