LONDON – There was a marked increase in the projected return on investment in pharma R&D in 2021, which rose to 7%, the highest level since 2014. That was up from a lowly 2.7% in 2020 and – even worse – 1.8% in 2019, according to the 12th annual report tracking ROI by the consultants Deloitte. But while 7% is a significant improvement, it is still below the projected ROI when the first edition of ‘Measuring the Return from Pharmaceutical Innovation’ was published in 2010, in response to concerns that pharma was spending more and more on R&D while getting less out. At that point, projected ROI was 10.1%.