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.

“That will be a giant headwind for big pharma companies. It will be hard for them to replace those revenue streams through organic research and development.”

From MarketWatch • Jun. 16, 2026

The same forces that drove big pharma helped biotech, but the smaller drug developers also benefited from a mergers-and-acquisitions boom.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 6, 2026

In many cases, you need to be a big pharma company to get treatments through the regulatory approval process, which is complicated.

From Barron's • Dec. 11, 2025

Tariff risks are easing: To minimize tariff risks, big pharma companies are setting up manufacturing in the U.S.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 3, 2025

It also risks further entrenching big pharma, which can afford to move its manufacturing and shift supply chains on whim.

From Barron's • Oct. 8, 2025

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