NEW YORK, April 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce conducted a nationwide media tour featuring Brad Watts, Senior Vice President of the Global Innovation Policy Center, to spotlight the extraordinary human and economic impact of American medical innovation. The tour elevated findings from a groundbreaking analysis commissioned by the Chamber, demonstrating how advances in treatment transformed once-fatal diseases into manageable conditions, extending life expectancy for breast cancer patients by seven years and increasing life expectancy for people living with HIV by an average of 40 years.
The study found that breakthroughs in treatments for HIV, heart disease, breast cancer, and obesity were projected to generate an estimated $167 trillion in societal value over a 30-year period. These gains reflected not only longer lives, but healthier and more productive ones, as millions of Americans were able to remain active in their families, workplaces, and communities.
The analysis also projected $10.7 trillion in productivity gains, reinforcing the critical role medical innovation played in driving long-term economic growth.
Throughout the media tour, Watts emphasized how America’s innovation ecosystem—powered by sustained investment in research and development, had delivered life-changing outcomes for patients nationwide. The findings reinforced that medical innovation was not just about new treatments, but about strengthening families, extending healthy years, and building a more prosperous future.
As policymakers considered proposals that could impact the future of medical progress, the Chamber underscored the importance of protecting the innovation framework that made these breakthroughs possible. During the tour, Watts addressed why policies that supported continued investment in R&D were essential to sustaining momentum, ensuring patient access to future treatments, and maintaining the United States’ global leadership in life sciences.
For more information, visit USCHAMBER.COM/PRICECONTROLS
TRANSCRIPT OF VIDEO FEATURING: Brad Watts, Senior Vice President of the Global Innovation Policy Center
This analysis, commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and conducted by Dr. Tomas Philipson at the University of Chicago, found that across four disease areas—obesity, HIV, cardiovascular disease, and breast cancer—medical innovation generated $167 trillion in societal value over a 30-year period.
What that means in practice is that Americans are living longer, working more, and being more productive. They’re spending less on healthcare because they’re healthier, and in many cases, family members no longer have to leave the workforce to care for them.
At the individual level, the impact is just as powerful. Take HIV, for example, the average life expectancy after diagnosis in 1995 was about two additional years. Today, it’s increased to roughly 40 additional years. For breast cancer, we’ve seen a 44% drop in mortality from 1989 to 2025. This is about people living longer, healthier, more productive lives. That’s not just economic value, it’s human value. It’s medical innovation, pure and simple.
In the United States, most medical innovation is driven by the private sector—biotech companies, startups, and pharmaceutical firms investing heavily in research and development to discover the next generation of treatments and cures. This is an expensive and high-risk process. Most new medicines fail, yet companies still invest tens of billions of dollars each year to push innovation forward. That’s why it’s critical that we maintain the right policies and frameworks to support this work.
There are proposals being considered in Washington that could undermine this success. Beyond the $167 trillion in societal value, this innovation has also driven approximately $11 trillion in productivity gains, $2 trillion in federal tax revenue, and $600 billion in healthcare savings.
There’s also a major jobs impact. The life sciences sector supports about 2.2 million jobs across the United States—good, middle-class jobs that help people achieve the American Dream. Overall, we’re seeing a 27-to-1 return on investment, not only in terms of better health outcomes, but also in economic opportunity for millions of Americans.
Importantly, the private sector is the primary driver of this innovation. One study found that 94 of the top 100 medicines on the market received no federal funding—they were developed entirely through private investment. That represents an enormous level of risk taken by companies committed to bringing new treatments to patients.
If we fail to maintain policies that support innovation, like strong intellectual property protections and a rejection of price controls, we risk undermining this entire ecosystem. The result would be fewer treatment options for patients and longer waiting times for new cures. That’s an outcome no one wants.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT THE U.S. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE.
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YourUpdateTV is a property of D S Simon Media. The video included and release was part of a media tour that was produced by D S Simon Media on behalf of U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
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Michael O’Donnell
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A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/0ea1c8a9-217c-4b02-80e6-2ced6a7b5648
