12 February 2018 - This report shows that NIH funding contributed to published research associated with every one of the 210 new drugs approved by the FDA from 2010–2016. 

Collectively, this research involved >200,000 years of grant funding totalling more than $100 billion. The analysis shows that >90% of this funding represents basic research related to the biological targets for drug action rather than the drugs themselves. The role of NIH funding thus complements industry research and development, which focuses predominantly on applied research. 

This work underscores the breath and significance of public investment in the development of new therapeutics and the risk that reduced research funding would slow the pipeline for treating morbid disease.

Read Proceedings of the National Academy of Science article