What Is Big Pharma?
Big Pharma is a term for the world’s largest publicly traded pharmaceutical companies.
The 50 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world
The world’s 50 largest pharmaceutical companies still saw a whopping $851 billion in sales in 2020, according to an analysis of financials by Drug Discovery & Development.
| Rank | Company | Headquarters | 2020 Revenues ($USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sinopharm (pharmaceutical distribution segment) | China | $50,446,739,666 |
| 2 | Roche Pharmaceuticals (division of Roche Group) | Switzerland | $49,516,455,427 |
| 3 | Novartis | Switzerland | $48,659,000,000 |
| 4 | Merck | USA | $47,994,000,000 |
| 5 | AbbVie | USA | $45,804,000,000 |
| 6 | Janssen (Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical segment) | USA | $45,572,000,000 |
| 7 | GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) | U.K. | $43,537,603,200 |
| 8 | Bristol Myers Squibb | USA | $42,518,000,000 |
| 9 | Pfizer | USA | $41,908,000,000 |
| 10 | Sanofi | France | $41,086,740,000 |
| 11 | Takeda Pharmaceutical | Japan | $29,948,845,895 |
| 12 | AstraZeneca | U.K. | $26,617,000,000 |
| 13 | Gilead Sciences | USA | $24,689,000,000 |
| 14 | Eli Lilly | USA | $24,539,800,000 |
| 15 | Amgen | USA | $24,240,000,000 |
| 16 | Bayer (Pharmaceuticals Division) | Germany | $19,657,020,000 |
| 17 | Novo Nordisk | Denmark | $19,410,703,364 |
| 18 | Boehringer Ingelheim | Germany | $17,163,157,895 |
| 19 | Teva Pharmaceutical | Israel | $16,659,000,000 |
| 20 | Merck KGaA | Germany | $16,149,714,000 |
| 21 | Biogen | USA | $13,444,600,000 |
| 22 | Viatris | USA | $11,946,000,000 |
| 23 | Astellas Pharma | Japan | $11,701,891,740 |
| 24 | Daiichi Sankyo | Japan | $9,014,010,114 |
| 25 | Otsuka Holdings (pharmaceutical business) | Japan | $8,945,495,411 |
| 26 | CSL, including CSL Behring | Australia | $8,796,600,000 |
| 27 | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals | USA | $8,497,100,000 |
| 28 | Bausch Health | Canada | $8,027,000,000 |
| 29 | Chugai Pharmaceutical (Roche, majority owner) | Japan | $7,369,357,558 |
| 30 | Eisai | Japan | $6,514,525,192 |
| 31 | Vertex Pharmaceuticals | USA | $6,205,683,000 |
| 32 | UCB | Belgium | $6,095,580,000 |
| 33 | Grifols | Spain | $6,087,643,320 |
| 34 | Alexion Pharmaceuticals | USA | $6,070,000,000 |
| 35 | Servier | France | $5,344,320,000 |
| 36 | Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma | Japan | $4,521,371,043 |
| 37 | Sun Pharmaceutical Industries | India | $4,514,904,235 |
| 38 | Abbott (Established Pharmaceutical Products) | USA | $4,303,000,000 |
| 39 | Menarini | Italy | $4,275,000,000 |
| 40 | Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. | China | $4,017,120,014 |
| 41 | Sino Biopharmaceutical | China | $3,418,209,206 |
| 42 | Shionogi | Japan | $3,122,035,962 |
| 43 | Aurobindo Pharma | India | $3,115,402,823 |
| 44 | Catalent | USA | $3,094,300,000 |
| 45 | Ipsen | France | $3,062,268,000 |
| 46 | Endo International | Ireland | $2,903,074,000 |
| 47 | H. Lundbeck | Denmark | $2,702,140,673 |
| 48 | Incyte | USA | $2,666,702,000 |
| 49 | Jazz Pharmaceuticals | Ireland | $2,363,567,000 |
| 50 | Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories | India | $2,354,911,934 |
