Asia Set To Overtake US In Medical Research

Even as research funding in the US steadily declines, Asia has made aggressive investments, study reports.

AsianScientist (Jan. 29, 2015) – From 2004 to 2012, the rate of investment in medical research in the U.S. declined, while there has been an increase in research investment globally, particularly in Asia, according to a study in JAMA.

For the last century, medical research, including public health advances, has been the primary source of and an essential contributor to improvement in the health and longevity of individuals and populations in developed countries.

The United States has historically been where research has found the greatest support and has generated more than half the world’s funding for many decades. Few previous analyses have compared medical research in the United States with other developed countries, according to background information in the article.

A team of researchers led by Dr. Hamilton Moses III of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, examined developments over the past two decades in the pattern of who conducts and who supports medical research, as well as resulting patents, publications and new drug and device approvals. Publicly available data from 1994 to 2012 were compiled showing trends in U.S. and international research funding, productivity, and disease burden by source and industry type. Patents and publications (1981-2011) were evaluated using citation rates and impact factors.

The largest increase in biomedical and health services research funding in the U.S. occurred between 1994 and 2004, when funding grew at six percent per year. However, from 2004 to 2012, the rate of investment growth declined to 0.8 percent annually and (in real terms) decreased in three of the last five years, reaching US$117 billion (4.5 percent) of total health care expenditures.

From 1994 to 2004, the medical device, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries had annual growth rates greater than six percent per year, with biotechnology demonstrating the largest increases. The share of US medical research funding from industry accounted for 46 percent in 1994 and grew to 58 percent in 2012.

Industry reduced early-stage research, favoring medical devices, bioengineered drugs, and late-stage clinical trials, particularly for cancer and rare diseases. National Institutes of Health (NIH) allocations did not correlate proportionately with disease burden. Cancer and HIV/AIDS were funded well above the predicted levels based on U.S. disability alone, with cancer accounting for 16 percent of total NIH funding and 25 percent of all medicines currently in clinical trials.

US government research funding declined from 57 percent (2004) to 50 percent (2012) of the global total, as did that of US companies (50 percent to 41 percent), with the total US (public plus private) share of global research funding declining from 57 percent to 44 percent.

Asia, particularly China, tripled investment from US$2.6 billion (2004) to US$9.7 billion (2012). The US share of life science patents declined from 57 percent (1981) to 51 percent (2011), as did those considered most valuable, from 73 percent (1981) to 59 percent (2011).

“The analysis underscores the need for the United States to find new sources to support medical research, if the clinical value of its past science investment and opportunities to improve care are to be fully realized,” the authors said.

“Substantial new private resources are feasible, though public funding can play a greater role. Both will require non-traditional approaches if they are to be politically and economically realistic. Given global trends, the United States will relinquish its historical innovation lead in the next decade unless such measures are undertaken.”

The article can be found at: Moses et al. (2015) The Anatomy of Medical Research, US and International Comparisons.

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Source: The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

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