Companies across the globe participate in the trillion-dollar pharmaceutical market, not just manufacturing but also investing in research and development as they search for the next breakthrough drug. The pharma companies listed below help lead the charge, achieving medical milestones and setting new market trends in the process.
Top Pharma Companies
- Pfizer
- Johnson & Johnson
- Novartis
- Roche
- Sampfo
- AbbVie
- Merck
20 Top Pharmaceutical Companies
Pfizer is a global pharmaceutical and biotech company best known for developing the first FDA-authorized Covid-19 vaccine. Founded in 1849, the New York City-based company specializes in the development and production of drugs, vaccines and therapies for disease treatment and prevention as well as overall wellness. Well-known medications like the antidepressant Zoloft and the antibiotic Zithromax are a part of its product pipeline, which also includes treatments for metastatic breast cancer, heart failure, ulcerative colitis, atopic dermatitis and sickle cell disease.
Headquartered in Switzerland, Novartis is a multinational pharmaceutical company developing medicine through five different biotherapeutic platforms. The company has championed breakthrough treatments in cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, immunology, neuroscience and oncology. Operating in over 150 countries, Novartis’ therapeutics treat 800 million patients worldwide.
Roche, short for F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, develops pharmaceutical and diagnostic solutions while delivering personalized healthcare to more than 28 million patients every year. It’s recognized as one of the world’s largest drugmakers in cancer treatment, with over 30 medicines named by the World Health Organization as essential medicines. The Swiss company’s top selling products include multiple sclerosis therapy Ocrevus, blood clotting medication Hemlibra and Perjeta, an antibody used to treat metastatic breast cancer.
Johnson & Johnson is a multinational corporation that sells consumer healthcare products, manufactures pharmaceuticals and develops medical devices. Pharmaceuticals make up more than half of the New Jersey-based company’s total sales, which reached 95 billion in 2023. In addition to Listerine, Band Aids and disposable contact lenses, Johnson & Johnson’s portfolio includes innovative antiretroviral drugs that treat HIV, cancer therapies and the only single-shot vaccine for Covid-19.
Sanofi is the world’s largest producer of vaccines, currently protecting half a billion people around the world. The company is known for delivering the first injectable polio vaccine. It was also the first to vaccinate influenza, meningitis and rabies. Today, the Parisian company operates in over 90 countries, developing therapies across several sectors, including diabetes, cardiovascular and rare diseases as well as oncology, immunology, multiple sclerosis and rare blood disorders.
GSK, formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline, is a London-based biopharma company that specializes in the development and production of innovative medicines, vaccines and over-the-counter healthcare products. Founded in 2000, the company primarily focuses its attention across four core areas: infectious diseases, HIV, respiratory and immuno-inflammation therapies as well as oncology. GSK is known for developing the first malaria vaccine.
Headquartered in New Jersey, Merck is a global pharma company that has developed prescription medicines and vaccines for more than 130 years. Its product portfolio includes the world’s top selling drug, Keytruda, an immune modulator for the treatment of cancer that raked in $25 billion in sales in 2023, and vaccines to protect patients from measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox, as well as HPV-blocker Gardasil.
Research-based biopharma company AbbVie spun off of medical device company Abbott Laboratories in 2013. It operates in over 70 countries and — working with universities, nonprofits, local governments and biotech startups — has created a legacy of developing advanced therapies for complex and serious health conditions. Its flagship product, Humira, treats a variety of autoimmune diseases. Other well-known Abbvie products include antidepressants Celexa and Lexapro, Loestrin birth control pills and potent pain reliever Norco. About 50 million people are treated by Abbvie’s products every year.
Headquartered in Cambridge, AstraZeneca is a global biopharma company that specializes in the development of innovative medicines across oncology, cardiovascular, renal, metabolic and respiratory diseases. Its invention of lidocaine put the company on the map in 1948. More recently, AstraZeneca gained global esteem for developing a Covid-19 vaccine in collaboration with the University of Oxford. Its beginning can be credited to a group of Swedish doctors and apothecaries that banded together in 1913, forming the beginnings of AstraZeneca, which now operates in more than 60 countries.
Eli Lilly is an Indiana-based pharma company that was founded in 1876 and named after a chemist who served in the Union army during the American Civil War. The company was the first to mass produce the polio vaccine and commercialize insulin for diabetes treatment. Today, it conducts research in over 55 countries, and focuses on developing therapies for diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's and pain relief. Some of its top selling products include antidepressants Prozac and Cymbalta, as well as erectile dysfunction medicine Cialis.
Danish multinational pharma company Novo Nordisk develops drugs for diabetes, hemophilia and hormone-replacement therapy. The company has production sites in 16 different countries, with research and development centers in 10 countries. Its main product is a drug known as Semaglutide, sold under the brand name Ozempic and Wegovy, which is used to treat diabetes and obesity, respectively.
Bristol Myers Squibb is a New Jersey-based biopharma company that develops therapies across oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular and neuroscience. It has over 55 compounds in development, and is testing new drugs in more than 40 different disease areas. Bristol Myers Squibb has partnered with other major players in the space, including Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer.
Headquartered in Tokyo, Takeda is a biopharma company with a legacy that stretches all the way back to 1781. It’s credited with selling some of the first proton pump inhibitors, designed to quell heartburn. With 200-plus collaborations across the globe, the company innovates across four core areas: oncology, rare genetics and hematology, neuroscience and gastroenterology. Takeda also claims to be one of the world’s top three plasma organizations, with more than 20 plasma-derived therapies and a network of plasma collection centers across the globe.
Amgen is a California-based biopharma company that uses artificial intelligence and generative biology to innovative biologic therapies for serious illnesses. Founded in 1980, its key areas of focus span oncology, cardiovascular disease, nephrology and inflammation, with top selling products like TNF inhibitor Enbrel used to treat autoimmune diseases and Repatha for cholesterol management. Today, Amgen products are sold in over 100 countries.
Gilead Sciences is a research-based biopharma company that develops antiviral drugs designed to treat life-threatening conditions, such as HIV and AIDs, hepatitis C and influenza. The company is responsible for developing remdesivir, an antiviral used to treat severe cases of Covid-19. Through its Patient Assistance Program, Gilead has provided access to no-cost treatment for thousands of people in the U.S. who are without insurance, while reducing its prices for HIV and AIDs medications in more than 130 low-to-middle-income countries.
Bayer is a global pharma and biotech company headquartered in Germany that sells health and nutrition products. It made its mark as the original creator of aspirin, first marketed in 1899. Bayer is also responsible for over-the-counter household products like MiraLAX, Claritin, Alka-Seltzer, Midol and Aleve. In biotech, Bayer develops genetically modified, high-value seeds, regenerative farming and sustainable practices within crop science.
Germany-based biopharma company Boehringer Ingelheim delivers prescription medication, therapies, vaccines and healthcare products for both humans and animals. It also acts as a contract manufacturer that fulfills the full production lifecycle of biologics and brings them to market. Its key treatment areas are cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, oncology, immunology and the central nervous system. Boehringer Ingelheim has about 90 clinical and preclinical in its projects pipeline, with the potential to deliver up to 20 new therapies over the next seven years.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a Boston-based biopharma company that develops drugs for the treatment of serious and life-threatening conditions. With the majority of its staff dedicated to research and development, the company is determined to deliver therapies for some of the hardest to treat viral infections, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders and cancers, like sickle cell disease and genetic blood disorder beta thalassemia. In 2024 Time named Vertex one of its TIME100 Most Influential Companies.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is a New York-based biotech company that’s founded and led by physician-scientists. Its primary focus is developing medicine to treat serious and life-threatening diseases within the areas of ophthalmology, immunology, oncology, cardiovascular, metabolic, neurology and hematology, as well as rare and infectious diseases. To date, the company has 12 FDA-approved or authorized medicines with about 35 product candidates in clinical and preclinical development.
Sun Pharmaceutical is the largest pharma company in India. Headquartered in Mumbai, the global pharma company manufactures and sells formulations and active pharmaceutical ingredients to over 100 countries. Its product portfolio also includes specialty and generic medications, over-the-counter products and antiretrovirals that can be delivered in a variety of dosage forms, from tablets and creams to injectables and inhalers. Sun Pharma sells over 30 billion doses of its products every year.
