<P> In a January 2016 senate hearing, the director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research said, that increasing numbers of generic drug applications had "overwhelmed the FDA staff and created unpredictability and delay for industry", but that the FDA is ahead of schedule in reducing the backlog since then . </P> <P> Pharmaceutical companies argue that the prices they set for a drug are necessary to fund research . 11% of drug candidates that enter clinical trials are successful and receive approval for sale . Although the cost of manufacturing is relatively low, the cost of developing a new drug is relatively high . In 2011, "a single clinical trial can cost $100 million at the high end, and the combined cost of manufacturing and clinical testing for some drugs has added up to $1 billion ." It has been stated that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry is able to invent drugs that would not be profitable in countries with lower prices, because of the high drug prices in the United States . </P> <P> Critics of pharmaceutical companies point out that only a small portion of the drug companies' expenditures are used for research and development, with the majority of their money being spent in the areas of marketing and administration . </P> <P> European pharmaceutical companies are as innovative, or perhaps even more so, than their U.S. counterparts, despite price controls . In addition, some countries, such as the United Kingdom and Germany, encourage comparative effectiveness reviews, whereby cost - benefit analyses of rival drugs determine which perform best . </P>

Who pays the majority of the costs for pharmaceutical drugs in the united states today