Interactive Tool · The Discovery Tax Series
What is your organization's Discovery Tax?
Quantify the hidden cost of operational friction slowing down your R&D programs.
What is the Discovery Tax?
The Hidden Cost Slowing Biopharma R&D
/dis·cov·er·y tax/
The compounding cost of operational friction in biopharma R&D — the hidden toll paid in scientist time, delayed programs, and wasted spend every time process gets in the way of science. Unlike most taxes, this one is optional.
Your organization
What Is the Discovery Tax Costing Your Organization?
R&D Organization Size
75
Includes scientists, program managers, and operations staff
Avg. fully-loaded cost per scientist
$245K / yr
Salary, benefits, overhead — typically $120K–$250K in biopharma
Annual external R&D spend
$50M
CRO, CDMO, and external supplier spend per year
Active external studies / programs
125
Studies currently in flight with external partners
Your discovery tax
Estimated annual Discovery Tax
$0
hidden cost of operational friction
375
Scientist weeks lost to friction / yr
38
Studies delayed by procurement friction
Your recoverable tax:
$0
Scientist Productivity Cost
—
5 weeks/scientist/yr × fully-loaded cost
Spend leakage
—
~6% of external spend lost to lack of visibility
Science Exchange benchmarks
6.5x faster
project intiation
5 weeks
returned per scientist / yr
21%
avg. cost savings YoY
Science Exchange · Intelligent Infrastructure for Science
Ready to eliminate your Discovery Tax?
Science Exchange gives biopharma R&D teams the operational infrastructure to move from friction to flow — faster programs, smarter spend, more science.