The R&D Scale and Status of Global Pharmaceutical Companies in Korea: Survey for 5 years from 2016 to 2020

Abstract

While the importance of the global pharmaceutical industry is growing owing to continued new drug developments and R&D investments, the scale of global pharmaceutical companies in Korea remains unclear. We therefore investigated the R&D status of global pharmaceutical companies in Korea through an annual survey from 2016 to 2020. We assessed five factors annually and their trend over the 5-year period: costs, personnel, number of clinical trials, number of clinical trial subjects, and others. We then examined the correlation among factors and further compared the trend between each factor and the gross domestic product (GDP). Of 35 companies that responded, 25 responded for five consecutive years and showed a steady increase in the cost, personnel, and the number of clinical trials. While costs and personnel increased more than the GDP over the 5-year period, the number of clinical trials remained similar; number of clinical trial subjects highly fluctuated year-by-year. Moreover, a high correlation was found for cost and personnel (r>0.8852), and cost and the number of clinical trials (r>0.8452). In conclusion, costs, personnel, and the number of clinical trials of global pharmaceutical companies in Korea steadily increased from 2016 to 2020 and thus, have continuously contributed to the domestic economy.