Zoetis Inc

Our R&D operations are comprised of a dedicated veterinary medicine R&D organization, external alliances and other operations focused on the development, registration and regulatory maintenance of our products. In addition, we have R&D operations focused on diagnostics, devices, data, digital and other technological innovation. We incurred R&D expenses of $686 million in 2024, $614 million in 2023 and $539 million in 2022.

Our R&D efforts are comprised of more than 300 programs and reflect our commitment to develop solutions for unmet needs and advance the current standards of care. We create new insights for predicting, preventing, detecting and treating health conditions that result in the development of new platforms of knowledge which become the basis for continuous innovation. Leveraging internal discoveries, complemented by external research collaborations, results in the delivery of novel vaccine, pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, biodevice and diagnostic products and services to help our customers face their toughest challenges. While the development of new chemical, biopharmaceutical and biological entities through new product R&D plays a critical role in our growth strategies, a significant share of our R&D investment (including regulatory functions) is focused on product lifecycle innovation. A commitment to continuous innovation, based on customer need, ensures we actively work to broaden the value of existing products by developing claims in additional species, more convenient formulations, routes of administration and combinations, and by expanding usage into more countries. We also create opportunities by integrating product offerings to optimize solutions based on the totality of customer need.

We prioritize our R&D spending on an annual basis with the goal of aligning our research and business objectives, and do not disaggregate our R&D operations by research stage or by therapeutic area for purposes of managing our business. We make our strategic investments in R&D based on four criteria: strategic fit and importance to our current portfolio; technical feasibility of development and manufacture; return on investment; and the needs of customers and the market. A centralized portfolio management function links development plans with financial systems to build a comprehensive view of the status of project progression and spend. This view facilitates our ability to set targets for project timing and goals for investment efficiency. The allocation of our R&D investment between product lifecycle innovation and new product development, in addition to our ability to leverage the discoveries of our existing R&D and other industries, supports a cost-effective, efficient, sustainable and relatively predictable R&D process.

We regularly enter into agreements with external parties that enable us to collaborate on research programs or gain access to substrates and technologies (such as new devices). Some of our external partnerships involve funding from a non-governmental organization or a government grant. We are generally responsible for providing technical direction and supplemental expertise for, as well as investment in, such external partnerships. Depending on the nature of the agreement, we may act as the commercialization partner for discoveries that originate during the period of collaborative research, or we may own or have exclusive rights to any intellectual property that enables the development of proprietary products or models.

As of December 31, 2024, we employed approximately 1,600 employees in our global R&D operations. Our R&D headquarters is located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. We have R&D operations co-located with manufacturing sites in Rutherford, Australia; Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium; Campinas, Brazil; Suzhou, China; Farum, Denmark; Olot, Spain; and in the following U.S. locations: Union City, California; Charles City, Iowa; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Durham, North Carolina; and Lincoln, Nebraska. We co-locate R&D operations with manufacturing sites to facilitate the efficient transfer of production processes from our laboratories to manufacturing. In addition, we maintain R&D operations in Sydney, Australia; Zaventem, Belgium; Beijing, China; Puchheim, Germany; Thane, India; Oslo, Norway; Hong Ngu, Vietnam; Con Tho, Vietnam; Cambridge, U.K.; and Fort Collins, Colorado, U.S. Each site is designed to meet the regulatory requirements for working with chemical or infectious disease agents, as appropriate.