COVID-19 Factor Wanes But Pharma’s R&D Pipeline Hits Record Heights

Pipeline Breaks 20,000 Barrier

Pharma’s R&D engine has been firing on all cylinders in the past year – pipeline growth in 2021 stood at nearly twice that for the previous year, pushing the number of products under active development over 20,000 for the first time.    

Sports car in a wind tunnel
Pharma's Racing R&D • Source: Alamy

The pharma R&D pipeline expanded by more than 8% last year to reached 20,109 drugs at the start of January, but new additions of COVID-related agents during the past twelve months cannot be said to account for the big increase.

The expansion rate during 2021 was nearly twice that seen in the previous 12 months (4.76%), although it was lower...

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