Pharma and medtech companies with highest payments to U.S. doctors and hospitals 2018

In 2018, Genentech spent approximately 480 million U.S. dollars on payments to doctors and hospitals in the United States – this was around 370 million U.S. dollars more than any other pharmaceutical and medical device company.

Why do doctors receive payments from companies?

As part of the Affordable Care Act enacted by the United States Congress in 2010, pharmaceutical manufacturers are required to publicly disclose all payments made to physicians and hospitals. The Physician Payments Sunshine Act improves the health care system by making the relationships between the interested parties more transparent. It is has become a common practice for health care providers to receive payments from drug manufacturers in return for writing more prescriptions for that company’s products. Interactions also relate to payments for educational lectures and expert consultations.

Pharma partnerships: Roche and Genentech

Genentech was acquired by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche in 2009 and has recently been integrated into Roche’s pharmaceuticals division – this operating segment generated approximately 48.5 billion Swiss francs in 2019. One of Roche’s leading drugs is Rituxan/MabThera, which is manufactured in collaboration between Genentech and Biogen. In 2019, the product generated total sales of around 6.5 billion Swiss francs, which was split between the oncology and immunology therapeutic areas.