According to Kinch et. al., ownership of new molecular entities (NMEs) has grown highly concentrated – in 2013, the top 10 pharmaceutical firms owned more than 2/3rds of all NMEs, while the top 5 pharmaceutical firms owns over 40%.
Kinch, Michael S., Austin Haynesworth, Sarah L. Kinch, and Denton Hoyer. 2014. An Overview of FDA-Approved New Molecular Entities: 1827-2013. Drug Discovery Today 19 (8, August): 1033-1039.
Much of this concentration is due to mergers & acquisitions. Panel 1 shows the rise of company-gobbler Pfizer versus internal developer Eli Lilly. Panels 2 and 3 show NMEs owned by firms that develop none!
