Big Pharma

American

[big fahr-muh] / ˈbɪg ˈfɑr mə /

Or big pharma

noun

pharmaceutical companies considered collectively, especially with reference to their political and commercial influence.

The article attributes rising medical costs to private healthcare, Big Pharma, and insurance.

Etymology

Origin of Big Pharma

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Big Pharma

The same psychological trap plays out in Big Pharma boardrooms, though the stakes are measured in tens of billions of dollars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

“It’s a genuine place to be. I worried about going into Big Pharma and feeling evil. Novo felt wonderful. It was so focused on patient care, on science.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026

Big Pharma companies are constantly searching for the next hot new drugs—and it’s often a lot easier to buy them than develop them.

From Barron's ● Apr. 6, 2026

In the world of Big Pharma, this is unheard of.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026

There have been a flurry of acquisitions of biotech names by Big Pharma giants, an easing of worries around threatened drug price reform, and some good news from companies.

From Barron's ● Dec. 28, 2025

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023