5 Largest Drug Companies in the World

Below you can find the list of 5 largest drug companies in the world. For a detailed coverage of this topic and a more comprehensive list, please see the 15 largest drug companies in the world.

 5. GlaxoSmithKline plc (NYSE:GSK)

Revenue – $45,226.5 million

GlaxoSmithKline is a British pharma giant that focuses on three key areas of prescription medicines, vaccines and consumer health products. GSK has been one of the forerunners of the Covid-19 vaccine development efforts. Phase III trial of Sanofi-GSK adjuvanted recombinant protein-based vaccine candidate is expected to start in December 2020. 

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4. Merck & Co.(NYSE:MRK)

Revenue – $47,347 million

Merck & Co is involved in research for prevention and treatment diseases including cancer, infectious diseases, such as HIV and Ebola. The company has two promising Covid-19 vaccine candidates – V591 and V590. The company completed the acquisition of Themis in June to develop a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 using Themis’ innovative measles virus vector platform.

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3. Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)

Revenue – $48,649 million

Pfizer is one of the leading pharmaceutical companies, which has recently made great progress in the Covid-19 vaccine race. The Pfizer- BioNtech vaccine candidate that has been said to have 90% success rate in Phase 3 trials, poses great possibilities. However, it is yet early to tell when the vaccines will be ready for mass accessibility. 

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2. Novartis (NYSE:NVS)

Revenue – $49,584 million

Swiss pharmaceutical giant, Novartis, operates in a wide range of segments including gene therapies and oncology. The pharmaceutical company experienced a slump in demand in Q3 due to Covid impact especially in areas of  dermatology, ophthalmology and Sandoz retail. Despite, there was 11% core operating income growth and net sales were in line with previous year for the company. 

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1. Roche

Revenue – $66,946.9 million

Switzerland’s Roche ranks No. 1 as the largest drug company in the world. Even though Roche’s sales figures and growth were affected by Covid-19, the company managed to emerge with the strongest sales revenue among its peers. Sales were especially accelerated in the Diagnostics Division with an increase of 9%, mainly due to COVID-19 testing. The company has a plethora of new drugs launched in the market, that have outstanding growth curves, further strengthening the market position for Roche in the medicine and drug market. 

See also 11 Biggest Telecom Companies in the World and 10 Fastest Growing Franchises in the US in 2020

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