“[In] 2016, total US expenditures on pharmaceutical drugs, including the gross profits of all the intermediaries, were $480 billion … Two-thirds of this total ($323 billion) was captured by drug manufacturers in the form of net revenues. The remaining third ($157 billion) was retained as gross profits in the supply chain.
Of this share, nearly half was captured by retail and specialty pharmacies ($73 billion), and about 20 percent ($35 billion) by providers, such as hospitals and doctors’ offices. PBMs and wholesalers together captured approximately 25 percent ($23 billion and $18 billion, respectively).”
Nancy L. Yu, Preston Atteberry and Peter B. Bach, in Health Affairs
Spending on Prescription Drugs in the U.S.: Where Does All the Money Go?
