Collapse of pharma UNIQUELY spills over to other industries and decks US economic resilience

Additionally, the American Hospital Association (AHA) notes that “advances in medicine contribute to national economic growth by helping Americans recover more quickly from injury and illness, avoid lost or ineffective work time due to flare‐ups of chronic conditions, and live longer with higher quality of life.” Without effective medicines and treatments for illnesses, injuries, pain and chronic conditions, the productivity of the U.S. economy would clearly be greatly impaired. Biopharmaceuticals are a key contributor to a more productive and healthy America and U.S. economy. Beyond direct employment in pharmaceutical companies, the biopharmaceutical sector is the foundation upon which one of the United States’ most dynamic innovation and business ecosystems is built. A large part of the modern biomedical economy is built upon a robust foundation of biopharmaceutical companies that perform and support advanced biomedical and technological R&D, and act as the funnel and distribution engine for getting life‐saving and quality‐of‐life‐sustaining therapeutics to the marketplace. Providing R&D impetus and funding, capital resources, technology licensing opportunities, and a sophisticated market access and distribution system, the biopharmaceutical sector is of central importance to the much broader biomedical and life sciences economy. Fueled by private investment capital, venture capital investments, and public/private collaborations, and enabled by the U.S. open market system, the nation has been able to advance biomedical innovation, which in turn has led to new start‐up companies, business growth and exports across the world. Conclusion Despite the tremendous success in the biopharmaceutical industry, emerging infectious diseases continue to present new challenges and a substantial volume of long‐standing diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, psychiatric diseases, immunological diseases, etc. continue to demand novel treatments and improved therapeutics. There are millions of people suffering from diseases and disorders for which a therapy has yet to be found. The need for ongoing biopharmaceutical research and development is simply enormous. The only way the U.S. economy can stay ahead of international competition is by using advanced R&D and innovation to drive the growth of high value‐added industries. By leveraging investment in federal lab, university and industry R&D, our nation is able to produce high‐value, typically technologically advanced products that the rest of the world values highly. In recent decades, life sciences have come to the fore as a leading driver of U.S. technological innovation and competitive advantage, and the biopharmaceutical sector is a key foundation of the life sciences innovation ecosystem. The United States’ pharmaceutical industry produces products that save, sustain and improve lives, and the sector has a large and significant economic impact, affecting many other key areas of the U.S. economy. Gains or losses in biopharmaceutical sector revenues will be reflected in gains and losses across a broad range of additionally important U.S. economic sectors that have robust supply chain relationships with the biopharmaceutical sector.