- In 2005 the share of the pharmaceuticals in the world trade rose 3% (in excess of $200 billion).
- 720 million prescriptions items were dispensed in the UK in 2005.
- The UK pharmaceutical industry is second, only to the US in the discovery and development of leading medicines.
- 70% of pharmaceutical drugs are consumed as powders in the form of capsules or tablets.
- On average, it takes around 10 to 12 years and £550 million to develop a new medicine, with no guarantee that a medicine will go on to be a commercial success.
- The NHS annually spends 13% of its budget (£8.6 billion) on drugs.

Research based pharmaceutical companies have made significant progress in the treatment of many illnesses, including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes increasing the average life expectancy over the past few decades.It takes 10 to 15 years from developing a new drug to it becoming available for consumer use with only 1 out of 10,000 substances screened actually making it to the market. The time and money therefore, invested in the development of new drugs is immense.

Although many of the drugs and treatments pioneered by pharmaceutical companies never progress past the development stage, employees throughout the industry say the varied workload and the chance to create a new treatment to improve people's health and quality of life gives real job satisfaction.