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Institute Report
Valuing the Research-based Pharmaceutical Industry in Latin America
Assessing the economic & societal footprint
Nov 09, 2021
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Innovative therapies developed by the pharmaceutical industry have helped to substantially improve the quality of life for millions of people globally. Demand for these medicines continues to grow due to increasing urbanization and sociodemographic factors. At the same time, the prices of these drugs have been classified as unsustainable by many developing countries and global healthcare spending has rapidly increased over the last 30 years driven by growth in chronic disease and aging populations. In Latin America, as in other developing regions, this poses a burden for governments and private sector actors as they face limited resources while trying to meet international healthcare standards. Examining the role of the pharmaceutical industry in alleviating both challenges is helpful to understand how people are benefiting from innovative medicines. 

This report examines the impact of the pharmaceutical industry in nine Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, and Peru) by analyzing its impact across two dimensions of value: economic impact and societal-human impact.

Key messages in the report:

  • Innovation contributes to the economy through gross value added and employment and has had a large impact in Latin America thanks to the diffusion of knowledge, reduction of national costs and establishment of high-quality standards.
  • Pharmaceutical industry technologies and medicines have benefited the Latin American economy as patients are more easily diagnosed.
  • The economic impact of the pharmaceutical industry in Latin America has both a direct and an indirect and induced component that can be illustrated in terms of gross value added and employment.
  • For every U.S. dollar produced by the pharmaceutical industry, an additional 70 cents are being produced in other parts of Latin America’s economy. And for every job created by the pharmaceutical industry, 1.7 additional jobs are created elsewhere.
  • Although the pharmaceutical industry has a small participation in Latin America’s gross value added and employment, salaries are much higher than in the clothing (5x), beverages (1.6x), and telecommunications (1.2x) industries, thereby disproportionately increasing quality of life and consumption in the economy.

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Other Key Findings

  • The annual gross value added of the pharmaceutical industry in Latin America has reached USD 21 billion and generated another USD 16 billion in the rest of the regional economy. 
  • For every dollar produced by the pharmaceutical industry, 0.75 dollars were produced both to meet industries’ demands and to produce final goods demanded by pharmaceutical employees, resulting in a multiplier of 1.75, and contributing to a total of USD 37 billion to LATAM’s economy. 
  • The pharmaceutical industry has contributed to LATAM’s economic growth with the creation of early 700,000 jobs (38% direct and 62% indirect and induced) based on a multiplier of 2.65. That is, for every job created by the pharmaceutical industry, 1.65 additional jobs were created between 2013 and 2019 in Latin America, both within other industries and to meet the consumption demands of pharmaceutical employees.
  • In 2019 alone, the pharmaceutical industry has financed almost 700 clinical studies in Latin America and has made investments of more than USD 1 billion in the same year.
  • According to interviews among research-based pharmaceutical company affiliates, 70% of clinical studies were conducted in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico, where the pharmaceutical industry has made investments of approximately USD 980 million.
  • An additional 20% of clinical studies were conducted in Colombia and Chile and the remaining 10% in Peru, Costa Rica, Panama, and Guatemala.

Support to public health policies: Research-based pharmaceutical companies have robust programs to support public policies.

Educational initiatives: Research-based pharmaceutical companies allocate a large number of resources for educational initiatives.

Monetary contributions: Supporting society through economic donations is another important social initiative undertaken by innovative pharmaceutical companies.

In-kind donations: Besides the economic contributions, innovative pharmaceutical companies carry out several in-kind donations.