BIG PHARMA WATCH: REPORTS SHOW BIG PHARMA HAD ANOTHER BANNER YEAR IN 2021

Brand Name Drug Companies Posted Massive Profit Growth and Invested Heavily in Share Buybacks and Dividends

Two recent reports from Evaluate Vantage and Endpoints News detail the banner year Big Pharma had in 2021, while the industry continued to raise prescription drug prices amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The reports show that Big Pharma invested heavily in shareholders, in the form of share buybacks and dividends, while experiencing massive profit growth, in part due to the industry’s biennial price hikes, which have continued unabated throughout the pandemic.

The report from Evaluate Vantage examines brand name drug makers’ spending on shareholders, through share buybacks and dividend purchases, compared to the companies’ investments in internal and external research and development (R&D). The report found that the world’s 11 largest drug developers spent more than $110 billion combined on share buybacks and dividends last year – a five-year high for the industry. The report also found that over the last five years, several Big Pharma companies have spent more on share buybacks and dividends than on internal R&D, including:

• Johnson & Johnson, which has spent $20.53 billion on share repurchases and $49.87 billion on dividends, compared to $50.45 billion on internal R&D.
• Roche, which has spent $26.35 billion on share repurchases and $39.8 billion on dividends, compared to $57.75 billion on internal R&D.
• Pfizer, which has spent $23.94 billion on share repurchases and $40.85 billion on dividends, compared to $50.33 billion on internal R&D.
• Novartis, which has spent $17 billion on share repurchases and $34.46 billion on dividends, compared to $45.23 billion on internal R&D.
• And AbbVie, which has spent $15.8 billion on share repurchases and $33.03 billion on dividends, compared to $29.36 billion on internal R&D.

Meanwhile, a separate report from Endpoints News found that a number of Big Pharma companies included in this year’s Fortune 500 list experienced massive profit growth in 2021. This includes:

• Gilead, which saw a whopping 4,961 percent growth in profits last year.
• Pfizer, which saw 128.6 percent growth in profits.
• AbbVie, which saw a 150 percent increase in profits last year.
• Regeneron, which saw 129.9 percent growth in profits.
• And Johnson & Johnson, which saw 41.9 percent profit growth.

The reports demonstrate that the industry has continued to reap massive profits and invest in shareholders while hiking prices on patients and deflecting the blame for out-of-control drug prices at others in the supply chain.

The reports also come after Big Pharma delivered another round of Wall Street-besting earnings reports for the first quarter of the year in recent weeks.

Read the full report from Evaluate Vantage, “Investors Bite The Big Pharma Hands That Feed Them,” HERE.

Read the full report from Endpoints News, “This Year’s Fortune 500 List Is Out. And Big Pharma Companies Saw Major Profit Growth,” HERE.

Read about how Big Pharma had a “turbocharged” year in 2020 HERE.

Read more on market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable and lower prescription drug prices HERE.