Research and development (R&D) productivity has long been a topic of concern amongst industry analysts (Drug Inf. J. 34, 1169–1194; 2000). In general, R&D productivity can be thought of as comprising two elements: R&D efficiency and R&D effectiveness. The former describes the cost of translating R&D inputs — such as ideas, effort and investment — into R&D outputs, particularly the approval of new pharmaceutical products. The second element, R&D effectiveness, describes the value delivered by each output. While numerous publications have explored the component elements of R&D productivity at an industry level, less attention has been paid to the variability that exists between individual companies, especially with respect to R&D efficiency.

The authors are employees of IQVIA and have conducted R&D consulting work for many of the companies included in this analysis; however, none of these companies funded, contributed to, or had any influence on this work. All data were derived from publicly available sources or subscription databases.