Efimosfermin alfa

iStock, vectorslab Overall, the top 16 largest pharmaceutical companies spent $159 billion on research and development in 2025, compared to $165 billion the year prior. Here’s where all that cash went at companies like Johnson & Johnson, Amgen and Pfizer. R&D spending at the top 16 pharmaceutical companies declined by 3.6% overall in 2025, as many aggressively cut spending and refocused pipelines. AbbVie had the steepest decline, meaning the company spent 29% less on research. Overall, the top 16 heavyweights spent $159.1 billion on R&D in 2025, compared to $165 billion the previous year. Johnson & Johnson’s research expenses fell by nearly 15% to $14.7 billion. Much of that decline can be attributed to changes made in 2023, when the healthcare giant completed a prioritization of its R&D investment within the Innovative Medicines segment. J&J exited a number of programs at the time, including infectious diseases and vaccines, such as a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) adult vaccine program, hepatitis and HIV development. While that program wrapped up in 2024, J&J’s 2025 spend reflects a slimmer organization. Earnings J&J Reigns as Top Pharma by Revenue While Lilly Leapfrogs on Strong Obesity Sales While Johnson & Johnson retains the top revenue rank across the major pharma companies, Eli Lilly last year established itself as the clear leader in the obesity market, in the process capturing investors’ attention and enthusiasm. March 18, 2026 · 8 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more Similarly, Bristol Myers Squibb dropped R&D spending by 11% in 2025 to $9.95 billion. The company attributed this to lower impairment charges for the period, which can result from writing down failed programs, and the ongoing strategic productivity initiative. BMS originally announced that program in April 2024, pledging to achieve $1.5 billion in cost savings through eliminating jobs and prioritizing development programs. The company cut several legacy programs from its 2019 Celgene acquisition in the process. Merck is also doing a little restructuring. The company cut R&D expenses by 12% for 2025 thanks to lower charges for business development activity. But those savings were offset by higher clinical activity and restructuring costs. Pfizer, too, flagged restructuring across the company as impacting its R&D spend, which fell 4% to $10.21 billion. AbbVie, meanwhile, took on $4.48 billion in impairment charges to its line item on R&D expenses. Absent that charge, the company’s adjusted R&D spend actually rose by $1 billion, CEO Robert Michael explained during a February earnings call. After the adjustment, AbbVie spent $8.99 billion on R&D, according to the company’s earnings report. On the other side of the coin, pharmas including GSK and Amgen pumped money into research. Amgen had the biggest increase, with 22% more going toward programs like the weight loss asset MariTide. The company spent $7.27 billion overall on R&D, representing 20% of its revenue. Earnings GSK Says No to GLP-1s, Prioritizes ‘Downstream Effects’ of Obesity Instead of joining the increasingly crowded GLP-1 arena, GSK will focus its efforts downstream of obesity—a push currently anchored by its Phase III-ready FGF21 analog efimosfermin alfa for liver fibrosis. February 4, 2026 · 2 min read · Tristan Manalac Read more Regeneron had a 14% boost, spending $5.85 billion on research. Among the larger pharmas, the company spends by far the greatest share of its revenue on R&D, with 41% of its income going toward clinical development and related expenses. Across the pond, GSK bumped up R&D spending by 18%, particularly increasing its spend in oncology and vaccines. The company expects to continue this trend as it invests more and adopts operational efficiencies to lower costs. One drag on GSK’s R&D expenses was the termination of the anti-TIGIT program belrestotug , which meant an impairment charge of £471 million ($631 million). The therapy produced disappointing results in the Phase II GALAXIES Lung-201 study in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Meanwhile, GSK funneled energy—and cash—into its antibody drug conjugate (ADC) programs, the MASH drug efimosfermin , hepatitis B treatment bepirovirsen and more. Finally, AstraZeneca added 5% to its funding for R&D, for a total of $14.23 billion. This went toward work on immuno-oncology bispecifics, cell therapy and ADCs. Key readouts throughout the year also unlocked Phase 3 development, which accelerated expenses. .responsive-container { display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; border: 1px solid #ededed; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, Sans-Serif; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } .column-left { flex: 1; max-width: 45%; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } .column-right { flex: 2; padding: 20px 20px 10px 20px; } @media (max-width: 768px) { .column-left, .column-right { max-width: 100%; flex: 100%; padding: 10px 0; } } Subscribe to BioPharm Executive! Market insights, trending business and policy stories for biopharma leaders hbspt.forms.create({ region: "na1", portalId: "4413123", formId: "7c139b3c-ff0b-44e0-bffe-f449801dca59", onFormSubmitted: function($form, data) { window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; window.dataLayer.push({ 'event': 'GTMevent', 'event_name': 'newsletter_sign_up' }); } });

GSK said Thursday that a drug it recently agreed to out-license to Alfasigma has been greenlit by the FDA to treat debilitating itch in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). Lynavoy (linerixibat), an oral IBAT inhibitor, becomes the first drug approved in the US for cholestatic pruritus linked to PBC (see – Spotlight On: Key PDUFA dates to watch in 1Q26).The filing was backed by the Phase III GLISTEN trial, which met its primary and key secondary endpoints, with Lynavoy demonstrating rapid, significant and sustained improvement over placebo at alleviating cholestatic pruritus and itch-related sleep interference.However, Lynavoy may struggle to compete in a market that has been reshaped by the introduction of PPAR agonists Livdelzi (seladelpar) from Gilead Sciences and Iqirvo (elafibranor) from Ipsen; both were approved for PBC in 2024 and have been shown to also significantly improve itch in PBC patients.Alfasigma made its entry into the PBC space through its 2023 takeout of Intercept Pharmaceuticals for around $794 million, gaining access to the FXR agonist Ocaliva (obeticholic acid) in the process. That treatment, however, was pulled from the US market last year at the FDA's request following years of safety concerns and regulatory scrutiny.GSK's licensing deal earlier this month included an upfront payment of $300 million from Alfasigma, along with another $100 million upon FDA approval. GSK is also eligible to receive $20 million linked to approvals of the drug in the EU and UK, where it is currently under review, and up to $270 million in sales-based milestones plus tiered double-digit sales royalties. Marketing applications have also been filed in China and Canada."For many patients, cholestatic pruritus remains a persistent, poorly addressed condition," Kaivan Khavandi, GSK's R&D head for respiratory, immunology and inflammation, said in a company release. "This is the first liver medicine from our pipeline to receive approval."However, with the Alfasigma deal, the UK drugmaker will be concentrating on other liver disease spaces it sees as larger commercial opportunities, such as hepatitis B and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH).It is currently investigating the FGF21 analogue efimosfermin alfa (GSK6519754) in the Phase III ZENITH-1 and ZENITH-2 studies for MASH, while the siRNA oligonucleotide GSK4532990 is in Phase II development for MASH as well as for alcohol-related liver disease. Its most advanced candidate for hepatitis B infection is the antisense oligonucleotide bepirovirsen (GSK3228836), which is being tested in the Phase III B-Well 1 and B-Well 2 studies.