Although the US is often referenced as a "mature" market for pharma, it is anything but staid. The current industry focus on China and other "pharmerging" countries neglects the fact that the US remains the transcendent terrain for successful engagement: If a company cannot survive and thrive in the richly diverse complexity of US healthcare, then it is by definition not competitive. Nor is it a truly global player in the game for market share.

What are some of the essential characteristics of the US market? Here, drawn from the pages of the 2011 Statistical Abstract of the United States just published by the US Census Bureau, are some salient facts and numbers that tell the story.
— William Looney, Editor-in-Chief

16.1% vs. 6.7%: Population over age 65 in 2020—US compared to India

25.5% vs. 15.4%: Smokers as a percent of population—1990 versus 2008

34.3% vs. 15.4%: Obesity, as a percentage of adult population—US compared to Canada

0.4% vs. 3.1%: Homicide, as a percent of total deaths—Caucasian versus AfricanAmerican populations

32.2% vs. 67.8%: Percent of total retail prescriptions, 2009—Branded versus Generic drugs

57.5% vs. 42.4%: Percent of total retail prescriptions, 2000—Branded versus Generic drugs

9.3 million and 16.1 million: Number of people employed in healthcare industries—2000 and 2009

$1,232 and $1,107: Private/Public expenditures on healthcare, in billions of dollars, 2008

$155.40: Average price of a branded pharmaceutical, 2009

$39.70: Average price of a generic pharmaceutical, 2009

$22.5 and $48.5: Cost of patient out-of-pocket payments for drugs, in billions of dollars, 2000 and 2008

$260 billion: Spending on prescription drugs, public and private, 2010

$458 billion: Projected spending on prescription drugs, public and private, 2019

11.2%, 12.7%, 12.2%: Public debt as percent of GDP—US, Greece, and Ireland, 2009

1, 2, 3: Ranking of foreign country filers for US registered patents, 2009—Japan, Germany, South Korea

62.4% and 69.5%: Percent of cancer patients surviving five years or more after diagnosis, a basic benchmark for cure, 1992 and 2006

5.9%: Five-year survival rate for patients with pancreatic cancer, the deadliest cancer, in 2006

46.3: Total population without access to health insurance, in millions, 2009