IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science

Reports and Publications

The IQVIA Institute annually conducts research on trends in four key areas of healthcare: The Global Use of Medicines, Global Trends in R&D, The Use of Medicines in the U.S., and Global Oncology Trends. This research is then offered at no cost to the public in the form of reports that offer a series of visual exhibits, research findings, and descriptive text.

In addition, the Institute offers other content – strategic reports, other publications, and events to further explore report findings – all of which is accessible to the public at no cost and often involving contributions from external, multi-stakeholder speakers and contributors.

The Institute is interested in perspectives on our research and findings from a variety of viewpoints and invites those perspectives in many forums.

Read more about each annual trend report and supporting content below.

Global Trends in R&D 2025: Markers and Metrics

This annual report assesses the trends in new drug approvals and launches, overall pipeline activity, the number of initiated clinical trials, the status of R&D funding, and more.

Key findings for 2025

R&D funding has increased

  • Biopharma funding increased for the second consecutive year
  • 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

  • Assessed using refreshed Clinical Program Productivity Index (CPPI)
  • Improvement driven by success rate increase in Phase III

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 seen at the height of the pandemic
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      The Global Use of Medicines Outlook through 2029

      Global medicine usage and spending are at the forefront of health policy and trade debates, influenced by innovation, access disparities, and evolving pricing strategies. Over the next five years, spending growth will be driven by greater access to high-value treatments in developed markets, offset by savings from generics and biosimilars.

      This 2025 annual trend report offers a data-driven lens on 2024 trends and a forward-looking analysis through 2029, aiming to inform thoughtful dialogue around healthcare value and affordability.

      Key Findings:

      A total of 394 novel active substances have launched globally in the past 5 years, with fewer launched in various regions.

      • A total of 78 novel active substances launched globally in 2024, bringing the five-year total to 394. Based on molecules in the late-stage pipeline and historic success rates, over the next five years an average of 65–75 NAS are expected to launch annually, expanding the number of NAS launched globally by 325–375.

      Per capita medicine use varies by region, with Japan and Western Europe having more than double the use of most other regions.

      • In the past five years, North America per capita use grew only 1.2% annually, and is projected to grow 0.4%annually through 2029.

      Global growth will continue to be driven by new and existing brands in leading developed countries.

      • New brands in the 10 leading developed markets are expected to contribute $181Bn in growth, up $4Bn from the past five years.
      • The impact from brands losing exclusivity (LOE) is expected to more than triple to $220Bn, although a large part of that increase is from biologics facing biosimilars where the impacts have had more uncertainty.

      Oncology and obesity to lead growth through 2029 while immunology and diabetes growth to slow.

      • The biggest contributors to the growth in the next five years are oncology, immunology, diabetes, and obesity drugs. The growth is a result of a continuous influx of innovative products and offset by exclusivity losses.
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          Understanding the Use of Medicines in the U.S. 2025

          This annual trend reports explores key drivers behind annual spending and usage of medicines globally, and covers innovation, value, cost, and role of medicines expected in the years ahead in the context of overall healthcare spending.

          Key Findings:

          • Medicine use has increased:
            • Total prescription medicine use increased 1.7%, reaching 215 billion days of therapy in 2024
            • Medicare beneficiary use of medicines at an all-time high
          • Some patients see out-of-pocket cost reductions:
            • Fewer Medicare patients paid more than $3,500 in annual out-of-pocket costs as Medicare Part D redesign began
            • Average insulin out-of-pocket costs have declined significantly due to $35 caps
          • Patients continue to see barriers to medicine access:
            • Over half of new prescriptions for novel medicines go unfilled largely due to benefit design and high costs
          • Spending on medicines has accelerated: 
            • The U.S. market at net prices grew 11.4% in 2024, up from 4.9% in 2023
            • Greater use of medicines with significant clinical benefits is driving spending growth while net price growth is flat

          Global Oncology Trends 2025

          This annual report profiles the current state of research and development in oncology, including key mechanisms, targets and cancer types being investigated, as well as pointing to some novel areas which are only just emerging and clinical development productivity.

          Key Findings:

          Oncology R&D activity continues to grow driven by novel modalities:

          • Oncology trials starts increased slightly in 2024 to 2,162, following declines after a peak in 2021, and are up 12% from the number of trials started in 2019, primarily focused on rare cancers and solid tumors.
          • Novel oncology modalities, especially cell and gene therapies, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and multispecific antibodies, now account for 35% of oncology trials

          Oncology continues to see significant novel medicine launches:

          • Twenty-five oncology novel active substances (NAS) were launched globally in 2024, and the average number of new launches annually from 2020–2024 was 26 compared to an average of 16 in the five years prior
          • A total of 132 oncology NAS have launched globally in the past five years and 282 over 20 years with large geographic variations, including a notable acceleration in launches in China since 2019

          Spending on oncology medicines is growing across geographies and tumors:

          • Cancer medicine spending at list prices rose to $252Bn globally in 2024 and is expected to reach $441Bn by 2029
          • Double-digit spending growth is forecasted for seven of the top 10 tumors, all areas with significant numbers of breakthrough new medicines, though biosimilar competition for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors will slow growth across many of these tumors in 2028 and 2029
          Strategic Reports
          The IQVIA Institute regularly publishes strategic reports based on timely topics in healthcare. Like our annual trend reports, strategic reports are also produced from evidenced-based research.
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