IQVIA – Global Use of Medicines, 2024-2028

The report by IQVIA's report on the global use of medicines from 2024 to 2028 highlights the shift in focus from COVID-19 to other communicable and non-communicable diseases. The report acknowledges the significant contributions of breakthrough therapies launched in the past decade, which have transformed patient care in various areas. Despite a downward revision of the outlook for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, the forecast for medicine usage and spending through 2028 is higher than previously predicted. This is attributed to the availability of more novel drugs, primarily in developed markets, with losses of exclusivity and lower costs of generics and biosimilars offsetting some of the spending growth. While innovative medicine growth was traditionally seen immediately after launch, recent years have shown growth driven by older products. The report aims to quantify the impact of these dynamics on medicine usage and spending globally, as well as in specific therapy areas and countries. It is meant to serve as an evidence-based foundation for discussions on the value, cost, and role of medicines over the next five years in the context of overall healthcare spending. The study was conducted independently by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science and was not funded by industry or government, with appreciation expressed for the contributions of various individuals at IQVIA.