11 Largest Pharmaceutical Companies In The World

Did you know five of the 11 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world are US companies? The healthcare and pharmaceutical sector is one of the safest stock market sectors given the recession proof nature of the companies in this industry. Medicines being an essential requirement, economic cycles do not have much effect on this sector. The biggest health companies show a slow and steady growth and are preferred by risk averse investors. Many of these large pharmaceutical giants also give dividend yields making them an ideal investment vehicle for investors looking for a fixed income. In fact, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) has not only given dividends every year for more than 50 years, but also increased its dividend amount every year.

Most of the 11 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world are from the U.S. and Europe given the strong R&D expertise in these countries. Large pharma companies enjoy a strong competitive advantage over new entrants because of the massive R&D expenditure required to develop new drugs. The entry barriers in this industry are extremely high given the high regulatory compliance and long gestation times needed to develop a new medicine. You might also want to take a look at top 10 multinational corporations in the US.

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“Big Pharma” as these large drug giants are known have come under criticism for charging excessive prices for drugs which are needed to save human lives. Many patients in Third World and poor countries are unable to afford these cutting edge medicines. Drug companies have responded by saying that they need to earn profits from their products in order to funnel money into their massive R&D budgets. The new US administration under Donald Trump has vowed to reduce the high pricing in this industry as a result of which the whole pharma sector has come under pressure in recent months.

Below we have chalked out a list of the 11 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world based on their reported revenues as listed by Forbes. They use the latest twelve months’ revenue for companies in the U.S., Canada and off-shore and the latest fiscal year’s revenue for international companies.

11. Medipal Holdings (Japan)

Revenue: $24.7 billion

Medipal Holdings which is a wholesaler of pharmaceutical products, cosmetics and daily miscellaneous goods ranks 11^th on the list. The company was founded in October, 1898 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. As of March 2014, the company had 20 subsidiaries and 14 associated companies. The company reported revenues of $24.7 billion and profit of $235 million for fiscal year 2015.

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10. Sinopharm Group (China)

Revenue: $36.1 billion

Number ten on our list of largest pharmaceutical companies in the world is Sinopharm Group that is a distributor of pharmaceutical and healthcare products in China. In just thirteen years of its existence, the company has successfully become the tenth largest pharma company in the world by revenue. The revenues for 2015 stood at $36.1 billion on which it earned a profit of $87 million.

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9. GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK) (UK)

Revenue: $36.6 billion

Another prominent name on our list of largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and in the pharma industry is GlaxoSmithKline headquartered in London and formed as a result of a merger in 2000. The company engages in manufacturing and distributing medicines and vaccines. About 1.9 million vaccines are produced and distributed daily to people around the globe. Some of its medicines are even listed on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medications. GlaxoSmithKline has offices in over 115 countries. The company has paid a settlement of $3 billion as a result of promotion of drugs for unapproved uses and failure to report safety data in 2012. This was the largest settlement ever paid by a drug company in the U.S.

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8. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) (United States)

Revenue: $39 billion

Merck & Co., Inc. is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world headquartered in New Jersey. The company which was established as an independent American company in 1917, deals in the manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical products and vaccines for humans and animals. Its anti-diabetes drug Januvia was the second largest selling diabetes drug worldwide with $4 billion reported sales in 2013. The company was also named as a top socially responsible dividend stock recently.

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7. Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY) (France)

Revenue: $40.5 billion

Sanofi is one of the global consumer healthcare leaders by market share. It is a French multinational pharma company formed as a result of the merger of Aventis and Sanofi-Synthelabo. Sanofi Pasteur the vaccine division of Sanofi is the world’s largest producer of vaccines. The company also manufactures drugs for cardiovascular, central nervous system, diabetes, internal medicine, oncology, thrombosis. With more than $40 billion in revenues, Sanofi ranks seventh in the largest pharma companies globally.

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6. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) (United States)

Revenue: $48.9 billion

We are continuing our list of largest pharmaceutical companies in the world with Pfizer that is an American pharmaceutical company based in New York. The company produces medicines and vaccines for various medical conditions like immunology, oncology, cardiology, endocrinology and neurology. Pfizer is the fourth largest profitable pharma company globally. The company’s potential merger with Allergan Plc (NYSE:AGN) was called off in April 2016 owing to some new rules from the U.S. Treasury.

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5. Novartis AG (ADR) (NYSE:NVS) (Switzerland)

Revenue: $49.4 billion

The Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company was founded in 1996 by the merger of Sandoz and another pharma company. Novartis emerged as the after spinning off its various businesses including agrochemical and genetically modified crops business. Its operating segments include pharmaceuticals, Alcon, Sandoz, vaccines & diagnostics, and consumer health. The company reported revenues of $49.4 billion for 2015 and is the most profitable pharmaceutical company in the world.

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4. Roche Holding Ltd. (ADR) (OTCMKTS:RHHBY) (Switzerland)

Revenue: $50 billion

Next on our list of largest pharmaceutical companies in the world we have the Roche Holding AG is a research-based healthcare company founded in 1896 and headquartered in Switzerland. It operates through two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, specializing in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche Holding controls various biotechnology companies in America, Japan, Arizona. Recently the company launched a Roche developed system in hematology testing, which will help patients in the accurate diagnosis of many blood diseases. The pharma company reported revenues of $50 billion for 2015.

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3. Cardinal Health Inc (NYSE:CAH) (United States)

Revenue: $112.4 billion

Cardinal Health Inc. is a healthcare services and products company operating in two main segments – Pharmaceutical and Medical. Revenues from the Pharmaceutical segment constitute for 90% of the total revenues of the company while the Medical segment accounts for the rest. Cardinal Health Inc. is one of the three largest pharmaceutical distributors in the United States and supplies to more than 70,000 US hospitals and 20,000 physician offices nationwide. The company ranks among the top 25 companies in Fortune 500 and has a presence in 60 countries.

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2. AmerisourceBergen Corp. (NYSE:ABC) (United States)

Revenue: $139.1 billion

Formed as a result of merger of Bergen Brunswig and AmeriSource in 2001, AmerisourceBergen Corp deals in drug distribution and services related to reduce costs. The pharmaceutical company is a leading distributor of pharma products and accounts for one-fifth of the total distribution in the U.S. AmerisourceBergen has 35 pharmaceutical distribution centers in US and Canada and packaging production capacity in the US and the UK. The company’s revenues stood at $139 billion in 2015, but profits amounted to just $395 million.

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1. McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) (United States)

Revenue: $189.1 billion

With more than $189 billion in revenues, McKesson ranked on the top spot on the list of 11 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The company reported profit of $2 billion and was the fourteenth largest pharma company worldwide by profitability. The company is one of North America’s largest distributors and deals in the distribution of health care systems, medical supplies and pharmaceutical products through its McKesson distribution solutions segment. It also has a McKesson Technology Solutions segment which provides software, automation and consulting services to hospitals and physicians.

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Dislosure: None