HDA Research FoundationFactbook Explorer · 97th Edition
The Facts, Figures and Trends in Healthcare · 2025 data

$969 billion moved through the vital link.

Sales through traditional pharmaceutical distributors grew 11.6% in 2025 and now carry 96% of all U.S. prescription drug sales. Explore the benchmarks behind that number, compare your own, and share any figure with a link.

Distributor Demographics · Tables 1–4

Where distributor sales come from

Specialty brands keep gaining share of the product mix, and chain drug stores took a bigger slice of the customer mix in 2025.

Sales by product category, 2025

Share of traditional distributor sales (weighted average) with dollar volume

Source: HDA Research Foundation, Tables 3 and 4. Excludes specialty distributors and divisions.

Total sales through distributors

Estimated, $ billions

Source: HDA Research Foundation, Table 1. CAGR 8.3% since 2016 ($440B).

Specialty brands take share

Rx brand-name share of distributor dollars

Source: HDA Factbook Executive Summary. Some figures rounded.
Finance · Tables 10–13

Follow a dollar through a distributor

Cost of goods runs above net sales. Cash discounts from vendors are what make the gross margin positive. Drag the slider to see what a given sales volume leaves behind.

$100
From $100 to the industry's full $969 billion.
Weighted averages, 2025 (FIFO). Source: HDA Research Foundation, Tables 10 and 12. Other income and expense lines combined; rounding applies.
Executive Summary · Asset management and liquidity

A decade of working-capital discipline

Receivables were collected in 18 days, the fastest of the past decade, while payable days stretched to 58. Pick a measure to see the ten-year line.

Source: HDA Factbook Executive Summary and Tables 16–17. Some figures rounded.
Interactive · Tables 10, 13, 16, 17, 26

Benchmark your company

Enter your own figures to see where they land against 2025 industry quartiles. The shaded band is the 25th–75th percentile; the line is the median. Nothing you type leaves this page.

Middle 50% of respondents Median Your company
Percentiles are simple (unweighted) across respondents with sales over $1 billion. Source: HDA Research Foundation, 2025 surveys tabulated by Industry Insights Inc. Your entries are saved only in this browser.
Operations · Tables 46–61

One business day in a distribution center

Weighted averages per distribution center, 2025, with the change from 2024.

Source: HDA Research Foundation, Tables 46–61.

Why lines go unfilled

Share of unfilled invoice lines, 2025

Source: Table 58. Raw-order fill rate 91.2% of lines.

How product gets delivered

Percent of deliveries, 2025

Source: Table 60.

Warehouse turnover

Employee turnover rate, companies over $1B

Source: Executive Summary and Table 46.
Healthcare Products · Tables 63–68

The medicines behind the volume

GLP-1 therapies lead spending growth: Zepbound grew 177% and Mounjaro 67%. Switch lists, filter by name or company, and sort any column.

Generics fill the prescriptions, brands take the spending

Source: IQVIA National Prescription Audit and National Sales Perspectives, Table 65.
Customers · Tables 82–90

Channels, chains and returns

U.S. pharmaceutical spending reached $915.3 billion in 2025. Non-retail grew fastest at 16.1%, led by clinics and home health care.

Spending by channel, 2025

Non-discounted, $ billions, with growth vs 2024

Retail Non-retail
Source: IQVIA National Sales Perspectives, Table 82.

Top 10 drug chains by dollar volume

    Source: retailmediaIQ, Tables 83–84. Some values are CDR estimates; Canadian chains converted at US$0.727.

    Unsaleable returns and recalls

    Inmar Intelligence data, 2025 vs 2024

    Source: Inmar Intelligence, Tables 85–90.
    New Medications · Tables 78–79

    What is coming down the pipeline

    Phase III candidates climbed to 1,951 in 2025, up 27% in a year. The FDA approved 46 novel drugs.

    Drug development pipeline

    Candidates by clinical phase

    Source: IQVIA Pipeline Link, Table 78.

    Novel drug approvals per year

    FDA CDER novel approvals

    Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Table 79.
    Market Characteristics

    The market around the supply chain

    U.S. health expenditures rose 7.1% to $5.6 trillion in 2025, or 18.5% of GDP.

    Who pays for dispensed prescriptions

    Share of retail prescriptions by payer, 2025

    Source: IQVIA, Table 97 (as summarized). Remaining share not itemized in the summary.

    Top manufacturers by U.S. sales, 2025

    $ billions

    Source: IQVIA, Table 102 (top four as summarized).