Evidence / What research spends per patient
What research spends per patient
Published figures on what clinical research spends to recruit and keep each patient, each with its source and its own words.
9 figures, last read 6 Nov 2026. Each row opens the figure with its source and its own words.
What research spends per patient (9)
Advanced orphan drug trials (four companies), company-reported per-patient trial cost$137,000 to over $5MMHealth Advances, Orphan Drug Development: What are the Real Costs? (10 April 2019; read from an Internet Archive copy)Phase 3 oncology trials, per-patient cost (PhRMA 2015, as cited by Health Advances)$69,000Health Advances, Orphan Drug Development: What are the Real Costs? (10 April 2019; read from an Internet Archive copy)Average per-patient Phase 3 trial cost across 1,680 trials (PhRMA and Battelle, as cited by Health Advances)$42,000Health Advances, Orphan Drug Development: What are the Real Costs? (10 April 2019; read from an Internet Archive copy)Pivotal trials behind 59 novel FDA approvals in 2015 and 2016, estimated median cost per patient$41,117AJMC, More than 100-fold cost differences found for pivotal trials (September 2018), reporting Moore et al., JAMA Internal Medicine 2018 · checkedPivotal trial of uridine triacetate for a rare hereditary metabolic disorder, 4 patients$2.1 millionAJMC, More than 100-fold cost differences found for pivotal trials (September 2018), reporting Moore et al., JAMA Internal Medicine 2018 · checkedAverage per-patient clinical trial cost, all drugs (Battelle study for PhRMA)$36,500Knowledge Ecology International, post of 10 April 2016 citing Table A-1 of a Battelle study for PhRMA · checkedAverage per-patient clinical trial cost, cancer drugs (Battelle study for PhRMA)$59,500Knowledge Ecology International, post of 10 April 2016 citing Table A-1 of a Battelle study for PhRMA · checkedMedian cost per recruited patient across 30 recruitment cost articles (converted to 2017 USD)USD 409Speich et al., Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2018, Systematic review on costs and resource use of randomized clinical trials · checkedOverall cost of a randomized clinical trial per patient across 16 articles (converted to 2017 USD)USD 43-103,254 per patientSpeich et al., Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 2018, Systematic review on costs and resource use of randomized clinical trials · checked