• Research and development funding has increased:
  • Biopharma funding increased for the second consecutive year in 2024.
  • Total large-pharma R&D spending continued to increase.
• Clinical trial start volumes have stabilized:
  • Trial starts have fully returned to pre-pandemic levels.
  • Priorities have continued to shift.
• Clinical program productivity has increased:
  • Improvement in productivity was driven by a success-rate increase in Phase III trials.
• Cycle times are stabilizing:
  • Enrollment duration – the largest opportunity to improve trial cycle times – stabilized in 2024 after having increased between 2021 and 2023.
  • Inter-trial intervals now typically account for 17 months of total development time across an R&D program; this figure has improved greatly since the 2022 peak of 32 months at the height of the pandemic.

The life sciences innovation ecosystem continued to evolve and expand in 2024 as the industry continued to adapt to a complex and dynamic range of geopolitical, technological and social uncertainties. The year saw progress in funding, trial starts, program productivity and cycle times, according to the new report, Global Trends in R&D 2025: Progress in Recapturing Innovation in Biopharma Innovation, released by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.

“Increases in funding, normalization of clinical trial starts, stabilization or acceleration of key cycle time drivers, and improvements in late-stage success and clinical productivity — all of which were observed in 2024 — demonstrate meaningful year-on-year progress in biopharmaceutical R&D,” said Murray Aitken, executive director of the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. “Although geopolitical, economic and other external ecosystem factors are increasing pressure on innovators, effective application of a range of productivity enablers has had a positive impact on the efficiency of clinical development.”

Highlights of the report include:

• R&D funding. Biopharma funding levels in the past year continued to increase following the post-pandemic rebound of 2023, with growth contributions coming from IPOs, follow-on funding, and other public and private sources. Excluding the 2020 and 2021 heights seen during the pandemic, funding reached a 10-year high of $102 billion in 2024 — a substantial increase over the 2023 figure of $71 billion.

• Clinical trial activity. The total volume of clinical trial starts stabilized in 2024 after the year-on-year declines seen in 2022 and 2023, reaching 5,318 — a number remarkably like the 5,316, pre-pandemic count in 2019 and slightly above the 5,302 total of 2023. The short-term volatility introduced by COVID-19 trials since 2019 has been partly counterbalanced by an increase in trials from China-headquartered companies and more recently increases among emerging biopharma and larger companies, especially in Phase I.

• New drug approvals and launches. A total of 65 novel active substances (new, previously unapproved drugs or drug ingredients) launched globally in 2024, a decline from 80 in 2023 but still more than in the pre-pandemic period. The cohort of launches in 2024 included the first new mechanism of action in schizophrenia in over 30 years, the first therapy for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), four treatments for rare neurological diseases, and seven non-oncology hematology drugs.

• Clinical development productivity. Clinical productivity increased from 2023 to 2024, driven by an increase in Phase III success rates, which counteracted declining success in Phase I and Phase II and increasing trial durations.

• Productivity enablers. A wide variety of dynamic external ecosystem factors are increasing pressure on — and creating opportunities for — companies sponsoring trials. Economic challenges, social change and geopolitical issues — including trade disputes and conflicts, policy changes and regulatory developments — are collectively increasing R&D complexity and uncertainty. Meanwhile, sponsor companies are continuing to employ a range of productivity enablers to positively affect speed, success rates and cost of trials. At the organizational level, these include systematic and robust implementation of decision frameworks and clinical technologies, better patient representation and better capabilities among real-world evidence and artificial intelligence solutions.

About the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science

The IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science contributes to the advancement of human health globally through timely research, insightful analysis and scientific expertise applied to granular non-identified patient-level data.

Fulfilling an essential need within healthcare, the Institute delivers objective, relevant insights and research that accelerate understanding and innovation critical to sound decision-making and improved human outcomes. With access to IQVIA’s institutional knowledge, advanced analytics, technology and unparalleled data, the Institute works in tandem with a broad set of healthcare stakeholders to drive a research agenda focused on Human Data Science, including government agencies, academic institutions, the life sciences industry, and payers. More information about the IQVIA Institute can be found at www.IQVIAInstitute.org.

About IQVIA

IQVIA (NYSE: IQV) is a leading global provider of clinical research services, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence to the life sciences and healthcare industries. IQVIA’s portfolio of solutions are powered by IQVIA Connected Intelligence™ to deliver actionable insights and services built on high-quality health data, Healthcare-grade AI®, advanced analytics, the latest technologies and extensive domain expertise. IQVIA is committed to using AI responsibly, with AI-powered capabilities built on best-in-class approaches to privacy, regulatory compliance and patient safety, and delivering AI to the high standards of trust, scalability and precision demanded by the industry. With approximately 88,000 employees in over 100 countries, including experts in healthcare, life sciences, data science, technology, and operational excellence, IQVIA is dedicated to accelerating the development and commercialization of innovative medical treatments to help improve patient outcomes and population health worldwide.

IQVIA is a global leader in protecting individual patient privacy. The company uses a wide variety of privacy-enhancing technologies and safeguards to protect individual privacy while generating and analyzing information on a scale that helps healthcare stakeholders identify disease patterns and correlate with the precise treatment path and therapy needed for better outcomes. IQVIA’s insights and execution capabilities help biotech, medical device and pharmaceutical companies, medical researchers, government agencies, payers and other healthcare stakeholders tap into a deeper understanding of diseases, human behaviors, and scientific advances, in an effort to advance their path toward cures. To learn more, visit www.iqvia.com.

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