Medical Research: What's It Worth? Estimating the Economic Benefits from Medical Research in the UK

Abstract

This report compares the economic benefits accruing to the UK from UK publicly and charitably funded medical research with the cost of that research. Understanding the nature, extent and processes involved in the return on investment in medical research has been largely neglected as an area of serious scientific study. Despite a growing international interest in this area there has been relatively little formal analysis of the returns to medical research, particularly in Europe. The study reported here represents an initial step towards rectifying that situation.