RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TAX INCENTIVES FOR THE LIFE SCIENCES/PHARMACEUTICALS INDUSTRIES
Many companies in the life sciences industries are not aware that the government offers generous research and development (R&D) incentive programs. Even those that are aware often fail to capture the full extent of R&D tax credits that they are entitled. For example, many companies may be capturing relevant expenses from their R&D cost centers, but not all qualifying R&D activities take place in traditional R&D departments. In many companies, prototyping, process development, and testing happen in the plant or on the shop floor, and thus may be overlooked for purposes of the R&D Tax Credit. If you think you have to have a PhD and a state-of-the-art laboratory to be conducting qualified activities as defined by the Internal Revenue Code, think again.
If your company operates in the pharmaceutical, biotechnical, agriculture, medical device, or biomedical industries, there is a strong chance that you could benefit from an R&D Tax Credit study. Speak to our engineering experts to help you understand if your activities qualify for the R&D credit.
Examples of life science innovations eligible for R&D tax incentives include the following:
- Designing new or improved pharmaceuticals, devices, diagnostics, drugs, compounds, and medical devices
- Developing new applications for existing drugs
- Developing new methods for drug delivery
- Conducting clinical tests to satisfy government regulatory requirements prior to commercialization, including FDA Phase I-IV testing
- Conducting tests to satisfy domestic and/or foreign regulatory requirements
- Developing new assays and testing methods/protocols
- Developing reagents and devices for testing
- Increasing product yield and decrease reaction times
- Improving a product’s shelf life
- Creating new or improved species with desirable characteristics
- Developing new or improved techniques or formulas
- Developing new or improved feeds
- Developing new or improved manufacturing processes or improved factory or production line in which innovative techniques or new technologies are employed
- Designing and developing scaled-up manufacturing processes
- Generating prototypes and first articles of new products for testing and validation
- Implementing automation processes or robotics
- Developing processes, tools, technology, or equipment to satisfy EPA compliance requirements
- Designing and developing hardware or software systems for use in research and clinical development
- Designing and developing medical equipment used for research
- Developing or improving drug formulations to reduce side effects or dosage
- Developing new medical products, devices, equipment, or technology as well as next-generation products and product improvements
- Designing, developing, and testing prototypes for new product validation
- Designing and developing new or improved factory or production lines that employ innovative techniques or new technology