Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession, the world’s 50 largest pharmaceutical companies still saw a whopping $851 billion in sales in 2020, according to an analysis of financials by Drug Discovery & Development.
Our editorial team gathered the most recent data on annual revenue, R&D spend, employee numbers, leadership and more. The pharma giants can be found in a diverse group of countries, including the U.S., China, European Union, Japan, India, U.K. and more.
Be sure to check out our related features as they become available, including:
Rank1 Company: Sinopharm (pharmaceutical distribution segment) HeadquartersChina 2020 Revenues ($USD)$50,446,739,666
Rank2 Company:Roche Pharmaceuticals (division of Roche Group) HeadquartersSwitzerland 2020 Revenues ($USD)$49,516,455,427
Rank3 Company:Novartis HeadquartersSwitzerland 2020 Revenues ($USD)$48,659,000,000
Rank4 Company:Merck HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$47,994,000,000
Rank5 Company:AbbVie HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$45,804,000,000
Rank6 Company:Janssen (Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical segment) HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$45,572,000,000
Rank7 Company:GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) HeadquartersU.K. 2020 Revenues ($USD)$43,537,603,200
Rank 8 company:Bristol Myers Squibb HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$42,518,000,000
Rank9 Company’Pfizer HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$41,908,000,000
Rank10 Company:Sanofi HeadquartersFrance 2020 Revenues ($USD)$41,086,740,000
Rank11 Company:Takeda Pharmaceutical HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$29,948,845,895
Rank12 Company:AstraZeneca HeadquartersU.K. 2020 Revenues ($USD)$26,617,000,000
Rank13 Company:Gilead Sciences HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$24,689,000,000
Rank14 Company:Eli Lilly HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$24,539,800,000
Rank15 Company:Amgen HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$24,240,000,000
Rank16 Company:Bayer (Pharmaceuticals Division) HeadquartersGermany 2020 Revenues ($USD)$19,657,020,000
Rank17 Company:Novo Nordisk HeadquartersDenmark 2020 Revenues ($USD)$19,410,703,364
Rank18 Company:Boehringer Ingelheim HeadquartersGermany 2020 Revenues ($USD)$17,163,157,895
Rank19 Company:Teva Pharmaceutical HeadquartersIsrael 2020 Revenues ($USD)$16,659,000,000
Rank20 Company:Merck KGaA HeadquartersGermany 2020 Revenues ($USD)$16,149,714,000
Rank21 Company:Biogen HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$13,444,600,000
Rank22 Company:Viatris HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$11,946,000,000
Rank23 Company:Astellas Pharma HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$11,701,891,740
Rank24 Company:Daiichi Sankyo HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$9,014,010,114
Rank25 Company:Otsuka Holdings (pharmaceutical business) HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$8,945,495,411
Rank26 Company:CSL, including CSL Behring HeadquartersAustralia 2020 Revenues ($USD)$8,796,600,000
Rank27 Company:Regeneron Pharmaceuticals HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$8,497,100,000
Rank28 Company:Bausch Health HeadquartersCanada 2020 Revenues ($USD)$8,027,000,000
Rank29 Company:Chugai Pharmaceutical (Roche, majority owner) HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$7,369,357,558
Rank30 CompanyEisai HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$6,514,525,192
Rank31 CompanyVertex Pharmaceuticals HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$6,205,683,000
Rank32 CompanyUCB HeadquartersBelgium 2020 Revenues ($USD)$6,095,580,000
Rank33 CompanyGrifols HeadquartersSpain 2020 Revenues ($USD)$6,087,643,320
Rank34 CompanyAlexion Pharmaceuticals HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$6,070,000,000
Rank35 CompanyServier HeadquartersFrance 2020 Revenues ($USD)$5,344,320,000
Rank36 CompanySumitomo Dainippon Pharma HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$4,521,371,043
Rank37 CompanySun Pharmaceutical Industries HeadquartersIndia 2020 Revenues ($USD)$4,514,904,235
Rank38 CompanyAbbott (Established Pharmaceutical Products) HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$4,303,000,000
Rank39 CompanyMenarini HeadquartersItaly 2020 Revenues ($USD)$4,275,000,000
Rank40 CompanyJiangsu Hengrui Medicine Co. HeadquartersChina 2020 Revenues ($USD)$4,017,120,014
Rank41 CompanySino Biopharmaceutical HeadquartersChina 2020 Revenues ($USD)$3,418,209,206
Rank42 CompanyShionogi HeadquartersJapan 2020 Revenues ($USD)$3,122,035,962
Rank43 CompanyAurobindo Pharma HeadquartersIndia 2020 Revenues ($USD)$3,115,402,823
Rank44 CompanyCatalent HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$3,094,300,000
Rank45 CompanyIpsen HeadquartersFrance 2020 Revenues ($USD)$3,062,268,000
Rank46 CompanyEndo International HeadquartersIreland 2020 Revenues ($USD)$2,903,074,000
Rank47 CompanyH. Lundbeck HeadquartersDenmark 2020 Revenues ($USD)$2,702,140,673
Rank48 CompanyIncyte HeadquartersUSA 2020 Revenues ($USD)$2,666,702,000
Rank49 CompanyJazz Pharmaceuticals HeadquartersIreland 2020 Revenues ($USD)$2,363,567,000
Rank50 CompanyDr. Reddy’s Laboratories HeadquartersIndia 2020 Revenues ($USD)$2,354,911,934
