Globally the Pharmaceutical Industry spent about $72 billion on research and development (R & D) in 2004. Of this, $22 billion was spent on phase II and III studies in clinical practice. In South Africa, it is estimated that approximately R600 million was spent on clinical development in 2004. This includes costs for laboratory tests and special investigations like X-rays and MRI's. R200 million of the total was paid out to investigators, all clinicians who participated in clinical trials.