Health research spending falls as effect of stimulus package expires

Biomedical R&D spending from all sources in the US fell by more than $4 billion, or 3 per cent, between fiscal years 2010 and 2011, according to data released on 25 October.

The findings represent the first drop in overall spending in this area since 2002, when lobby group Research!America began compiling such data. The decline follows a significant upturn in research funding attributed to the economic stimulus package enacted by President Obama in 2009, which allocated more than $10bn to the National Institutes of Health over two years.