How Big Pharma Profits From Factory Farming

Written by Júlia Almeida

With Big Pharma in the spotlight after numerous accusations about its real intentions and the massive profits it makes from human illness, one thing often gets overlooked: how much money it also makes from animal farming

Factory farms are not just a source of food or products from neglected animals; they are a major market for pharmaceuticals. Around 80% of all antibiotics in the U.S. are administered to farmed animals—not just the sick ones, but all of them—to prevent disease and promote rapid growth in overcrowded conditions (Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals, FDA, 2020). Crazy, right? This creates a dangerous cycle: Big Pharma profits from selling these drugs while factory animal farms create the perfect breeding grounds for antibiotic-resistant superbugs (Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report, CDC, 2021)!

With billions of animals confined in factory farms just in the U.S., it looks like even if one industry doesn’t directly subsidize the other, Big Pharma and agribusiness work hand in hand. Pharmaceutical companies sell antibiotics, vaccines, and growth hormones to factory farms while profiting from the very diseases and conditions these farms create for the abused animals.

Factory Farming: A Breeding Ground for Disease

1. Overcrowding & Poor Hygiene – Thousands of animals are packed into unsanitary spaces, many times sharing the same space with dead animal bodies, making it easy for bacteria and viruses to spread.

2. Zoonotic Disease Risk – Deadly viruses like swine flu (H1N1), bird flu (H5N1), and Nipah virus originated in factory farms (Animal Agriculture and Disease Outbreaks, FAO, 2020).

3. Antibiotic Overuse – Overuse in animals has led to drug-resistant superbugs, a growing threat to global health (Superbugs and Factory Farms: The Next Pandemic Risk, Sentient Media, 2023).

4. Environmental Contamination – Manure runoff pollutes water with E. coli and Salmonella, and airborne viruses spread beyond farms (Factory Farms and Water Pollution, EPA, 2021).

5. Recent Outbreaks – Avian flu and other zoonotic diseases continue to emerge from factory farming (Avian Flu and Factory Farming, FAO, 2023).

The Hidden Cruelty

Beyond the drugs and the disease risk, factory farming is built on immense suffering. Dairy cows, for example, are repeatedly artificially inseminated—forced into pregnancy so they continue producing milk (The Reality of Veal Farming, Compassion in World Farming, 2021). Their calves are taken from them within hours of birth, as mean and inhumane as that sounds, causing extreme distress for both mother and baby (Animal Agriculture and Disease Outbreaks, FAO, 2020). The males, deemed useless to the dairy industry, are often killed or sent to veal farms, where they endure short, miserable lives in tiny crates (The Reality of Veal Farming, Compassion in World Farming, 2021). Meanwhile, the mothers are put through the cycle again and again until their bodies give out.

As if that doesn’t generate enough traumatic stress—yes, she is put in this situation many times.

The Bigger Picture

Diseases like H1N1, H5N1, Nipah virus, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria weren’t caused by wild animals alone—they were surely made worse by factory farming (Pandemic Risks from Factory Farming, CDC, 2023). The combination of overcrowding, genetic manipulation, and antibiotic overuse easily turns farms into pandemic factories.

The Overlooked Connection: Animal Testing

Big Pharma’s reliance on animals goes beyond factory farms. It also tests drugs on animals each year, despite the fact that over 92% of drugs that pass animal trials fail in humans (Over 92% of Drugs Fail in Humans After Animal Testing, Cruelty-Free International, 2021)—which again makes you wonder why they keep doing it. Companies like Pfizer, Merck, and Bayer dominate both human and veterinary medicine, profiting from animal testing and factory farming alike (Business Insider, 2023).

Why Doesn’t the Media Talk About This?

Big Pharma profits from every aspect of factory farming. So why would mainstream media push this narrative? I’m not saying everyone is being paid off—but I’m also not saying they aren’t. It takes vision to challenge systems and to expose how greedy and mean people can be, especially when industries work together to profit from the exploitation of animals, creating pollution, and maintaining their secrecy in the public eye. Violence against animals should be classified as a crime, and the promotion of this market must be thoroughly analyzed. And after seeing how much Big Pharma stands to lose, it’s easy to understand why this stays out of the news.

So the real question is:

When will we finally stop killing and abusing innocent beings for profit?

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2021). Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Report. https://www.cdc.gov/antimicrobial-resistance/data-research/threats/index.html
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2023). Pandemic Risks from Factory Farming. https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/spotlights/protect-farm-workers-bird-flu-11082024.html
Compassion in World Farming. (2021). The Reality of Veal Farming. https://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/veal-calves/
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2021). Factory Farms and Water Pollution. https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2024/05/01/epa-suit-factory-farm-pollution-harms/
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2020). Animal Agriculture and Disease Outbreaks. https://www.fao.org/animal-health/news-events/news/detail/fao-launches-new-guidelines-for-influenza-a%28h5n1%29-surveillance-in-cattle-and-other-mammals/en
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2023). Avian Flu and Factory Farming. https://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/news-archive/detail-news/en/c/1679352/
U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (2020). Summary Report on Antimicrobials Sold or Distributed for Use in Food-Producing Animals. https://www.fda.gov/media/144427/download
Viva! (2022). Factory Farms: A Breeding Ground for Disease. https://viva.org.uk/health/global-health-threats/factory-farms-a-breeding-ground-for-disease/
World Animal Protection. (2021). Antibiotic Resistance and Industrial Animal Farming. https://www.worldanimalprotection.us/siteassets/reports-programmatic/amr-2021-report.pdf
Cruelty Free International. (2021). Over 92% of Drugs Fail in Humans After Animal Testing. https://crueltyfreeinternational.org/latest-news-and-updates/bio-updates-figure-failure-rate-drugs-after-pre-clinical-animal-tests-92?utm_source
Sentient Media. (2023). Superbugs and Factory Farms: The Next Pandemic Risk. https://sentientmedia.org/the-next-pandemic-is-already-here-superbugs-and-factory-farms/

Meet the author:

Julia Almeida is a Brazilian vegan writer and international model based in California. With over a decade of veganism, she has traveled widely, often during times when finding plant-based options was far more challenging than it is today. These experiences pushed her to discover creative ways to cook and uncover vegan-friendly spots within diverse cultural landscapes.

Through her work, Julia merges storytelling and advocacy, inspiring compassionate living. Passionate about animals, she is dedicated to raising awareness about fostering, adoption, and supporting non-profit animal rescues, encouraging others to recognize all animals as intelligent, loving beings deserving of respect and kindness.