SAN FRANCISCO - New statistics just released reveal that R&D investment in new medicines by the biopharmaceutical industry was $65.2 billion in 2008, an increase of 3 percent from 2007, according to a combined analysis conducted by Burrill & Company, a San Francisco based global leader in life sciences whose principal activities are in Venture Capital, Private Equity, Merchant Banking and Media and the Washington DC-based Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

PhRMA-member companies alone spent an estimated $50.3 billion on pharmaceutical R&D last year -- up 5 percent from the 2007 total of $47.9 billion in 2007, according to a PhRMA survey. The Burrill & Company analysis shows that non-PhRMA pharmaceutical research companies in the United States spent an estimated $14.9 billion on R&D last year, compared with $15.3 billion in 2007.

"This is the fifth year that we have joined with PhRMA to report industry-wide biopharmaceutical research and development expenditures," said G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company. "The growth in R&D investment shows the industry's commitment to support important advances in better medicines and new treatments for patients made by research scientists and physicians."

"America's biopharmaceutical companies are not immune to the challenges presented by our current economic crisis," said PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin. "However, the important work that we do every day in the battle with disease cannot stop. The U.S. is the world's hotbed of medical innovation, and throughout the country, we remain committed today to finding tomorrow's cures, despite the incredible challenges that are posed by the current economy."

Record investment in R&D is leading America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies toward record levels of clinical testing of new medicines. Today, there are more than 2,900 medicines in development in the U.S., including 750 compounds in development for cancer, 312 for heart disease and stroke, 150 for diabetes, 109 for HIV/AIDS and 91 for Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

"As we look toward the future of health care in America, we must remember that the incredible progress we make every day in research and development will be wasted if patients don't have access to our life-saving medicines," said Tauzin. "That's why we're committed to working toward comprehensive health care reform that offers health coverage to all Americans."

Burrill & Company computes R&D expenses among other key financial parameters on a quarterly basis, in its Burrill Report, for the universe of U.S. publicly listed biotech companies through its reports on the industry (sourced from company reports filed with the SEC). To create a comparable report additive to PhRMA's annual membership survey, Burrill applies a set of pre-determined criteria to their biotech research to identify and select non-member companies. Specifically:

-- Companies must be based in the United States of America

-- Companies must not be a member or member subsidiary of PhRMA and,

-- Companies must meet the "human healthcare focus" test, i.e., their R&D expenses are principally for research and development of new medicines for healthcare.