It's not just the growth rate of biomedical funding that's slowing; the total number of dollars seems to be decreasing as well, says a study in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Image: Refracted Moment's, Flickr

To make matters worse, the funding downturn also corresponds to one of the biomedical industry's most stagnant periods in productivity, measured by the number of new drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the report notes.

E. Ray Dorsey, a neurologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center, New York, and colleagues analyzed biomedical funding records from federal, state and local governments, foundations, and industry. All values were adjusted to 2008 dollar levels using the biomedical research and development price index (BRDPI). They then compared their results to a similar 2005 study they did on biomedical funding from 1994 to 2003.

At first glance, funding in biomedical research during the last decade seems strong -- total investment increased 14% between 2003 and 2007, from $80.7 billion to $90.2 billion (values only for industry and National Institutes of Health). But a closer look reveals only a 3.4% increase in funding annually, less than half of the 7.8% annual growth seen between 1994 and 2003. Data from industry and NIH records suggest that 2008 funding fell to $88.8 billion.

From 2003 to 2007, the NIH cut their contributions to biomedical research by 8.6%, from $31.8 billion to $29 billion. In 2008, the agency reduced its biomedical funding an additional 2%, down to $27.9 billion. Industry funding trends also shifted -- medical device firms showed the largest rate of funding growth, 59%, followed by biotech (41%) and pharmaceutical (15%) companies. In 2005, biotech firms had the highest funding growth.

While the study presents a US perspective, the scientists estimate that 70-80%of global biomedical research is supported by the US government or US-based foundations and corporations.

"Research investment appears to have returned to its previous cyclical pattern of increases noted since the 1940s," the researchers write, referring to the opposing funding trends -- doubling of biomedical investment from 1993 to 2003 compared to the flatlining of funding from 2003 to 2007. "It makes [researchers and institutions] cautious and may portend a trend to favor incremental research rather than high-risk/high-reward avenues, which have particular value to refractory diseases and those of great clinical or public health impact."


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