And Asia – where biomedical R&D is growing rapidly, but from a small base – is unlikely to pick up the slack. Asian countries have tended to be reluctant to shoulder the cost of developing new medicines, with reimbursements falling far short of US levels, and their R&D productivity will not match that of the US and Europe for several more years.
医药业支持研发预算的能力下降已导致30多家大型研究机构关闭。美国是研究机构关闭的主要地区，从2007年到2012年，美国生物医学研发支出下降了120多亿美元。而亚洲的生物医学研发虽然增长很快，但基数很低，不可能填补空白。亚洲国家一向不愿意承担开发新药的成本，新药研发回报远低于美国水平，研发生产率也比美国和欧洲落后多年。