Pharma R&D Annual Review 2023

By Ian Lloyd, Senior Director, Pharmaprojects at Citeline

For over three decades, Senior Director of Pharmaprojects at Citeline, Ian Lloyd, has been reviewing annual trends and evolutions in pharmaceutical research and development. In the 31^st edition, Lloyd recently examined the state of play at the start of 2023 by taking into account the pipeline by company, therapeutic area, disease, target, and drug type, using data from primarily Pharmaprojects, part of the Citeline suite of products, which has been tracking global drug development since 1980.

Presented in a literary theme to highlight points, draw analogies, and add a little character into what could otherwise be a rather lengthy narrative through a collection of statistics, charts, and tables, Lloyd tells the story of pharma R&D as it is today: an epic tale, with a rich cast of characters and a global scope, and several unexpected plot twists.

“Storytelling is as old as humanity itself, and fiction has always been used as a proxy to help us to understand the real world,” writes Lloyd. “The best literature enlightens, thrills, amuses, and engages the reader. I’m certainly no Shakespeare, but I hope that my words will throw some light on the current state of the pharmaceutical industry, in the same way that a great novel does on the human condition.”