pharma

[ fahr-muh ]

/ ˈfɑr mə /

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noun

a pharmaceutical company.

Also called big pharma . pharmaceutical companies, considered collectively: Pharma is expanding into China, hoping to replace local remedies with manufactured drugs.

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Origin of pharma

First recorded in 1990-95; short for pharmaceutical

Words nearby pharma

Pharisaic, Pharisaism, Pharisee, Pharisees, pharm., pharma, pharmaceutical, pharmaceutics, pharmacist, pharmaco-, pharmacodiagnosis

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use pharma in a sentence

This younger generation of pharma CEOs is active on social media, which tells us they are not afraid of making their views public.
Big Pharma’s new CEOs must step up to erase inequities in drug access|matthewheimer|December 15, 2020|Fortune
As they did last year, technology companies—either in the IT or biotech and pharma industries—constitute 40% of the top 25.
What the World’s 25 Best Workplaces have in common|Brett Haensel|October 19, 2020|Fortune
Big pharma companies like to argue that this is the cost of innovation.
Bristol Myers Squibb and Celgene got a beating in Congress on drug prices—but only Congress can fix the problem|Sy Mukherjee|October 1, 2020|Fortune
Rich Gagnon, evp and health and wellness practice lead at Havas Media, said that pharma and health are two categories he’s seen increase spend, with a particular emphasis on targeting healthcare professionals.
‘It’s a virtuous cycle’: Audiences and advertisers seek health and wellness content and publishers are seeing green|Kayleigh Barber|September 23, 2020|Digiday

Well, the pharma industry is certainly stepping up to play their role.
When Bill Gates thinks we’ll have a COVID-19 vaccine—and why that won’t be the end of the pandemic|cleaf2013|September 21, 2020|Fortune
Whenever soldiers come home, big pharma finds new ways to medicate them.
Life After ‘Winter’s Bone’: Debra Granik on Finding J. Law and the Plight of the Female Director|Marlow Stern|October 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the end of Viagra as we know it signals more than just a change in the tides for Big Pharma.
Laughter Will Be the Legacy of Viagra|Samantha Allen|October 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The uneasy alliance between Pharma and medical research has also resulted in major scandals.
Why Smart People Are Dumb Patients|Jean Kim|July 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
All the Bigs need their financial cut: Big Insurance and Big Pharma and even Big Hospitals and Big Doctors.
Why U.S. Health Care Is So Expensive and So Pathetic|Kent Sepkowitz|June 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
OxyContin is the brand name for a time-release version of the pain-relief opiate oxycodone produced by Purdue Pharma.
‘Oxyana’ Documentary at Tribeca Exposes the OxyContin Epidemic|Marlow Stern|April 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The appetite-suppressing hormones had been used in the Mexican pharma industry for years.
Makers|Cory Doctorow

British Dictionary definitions for pharma

pharma

/ (ˈfɑːmə) /

noun

pharmaceutical companies when considered together as an industry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012