U.S. HAS EMERGED AS WORLD LEADER IN IMPORTANT NEW DRUG INTRODUCTIONS

The Duke study, led by economics professor Henry Grabowski, also found that the U.S. has become the top country where new drugs are first launched. Since 1993, the U.S. pharmaceutical industry has become the world leader in introducing important new drugs, according to a study led by a Duke University economist. Between 1993 and 2003, U.S. firms introduced 48 percent of first-in-class or novel drugs, 52 percent of biotech drugs and 55 percent of orphan drugs that treat rare diseases worldwide.

Duke University (http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2006/03/grabowski.html)