The Danish pharmaceutical company sets itself apart when it comes to specialization. Lundbeck is one of the only pharma companies globally with an exclusive focus on brain diseases, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, epilepsy, psychosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and migraine. Part of the reason that Lundbeck can continue with its specialization is its ownership…
Grifols
The Spanish multinational pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturer is best known as a maker of blood-plasma-based products. It offers products and services in more than 100 countries. The Grifols Bioscience Division has one of the world’s largest plasma donation networks, with fractionation, purification, and production at three facilities in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Clayton, N.C. –…
GSK
GlaxoSmithKline makes over 70 drugs for a broad range of conditions ranging from antidepressants to amoxicillin to oncology drugs. The Brentford, U.K.–based company has worked on COVID-19 vaccine candidates throughout the pandemic. In May 2020, GlaxoSmithKline said it would produce 1 billion doses of adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine candidates. It signed an agreement along with Sanofi…
Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company advancing medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases including HIV, viral hepatitis and cancer. The Forest City, Calif.–based company commercializes 21 drugs for HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, liver diseases, hematology/oncology/cell therapy and other conditions. Gilead won FDA approval in October last year for its antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) for treating COVID-19,…
AbbVie
After Abbott Laboratories spun out AbbVie in 2013, the North Chicago–based firm has cemented its reputation as a pharma heavyweight. AbbVie bolstered its standing in the market with the 2020 acquisition of Botox maker Allergan. Now, AbbVie is among the five largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. The immunosuppressive drug Humira is currently the best-selling…
Abbott (Established Pharmaceutical Products)
Even after it spun off AbbVie at the start of 2013, Abbott kept an established pharmaceuticals business. Products in the business provide treatments in spaces including gastroenterology, women’s health, cardiovascular, pain and central nervous system, and respiratory. Established pharmaceuticals make up more than 12% of Abbott’s revenue. –CN
Alexion Pharmaceuticals
Looking to expand its offerings in the immunology space, AstraZeneca is in the process of acquiring Alexion in a $39 billion deal slated to close in Q3 2021. Boston-based Alexion has been a pioneer when it comes to treatment of immune-mediated rare diseases caused by uncontrolled activation of the complement system, an important part of…
Amgen
Amgen develops medications for cardiovascular disease, oncology, bone health, neurosciences, nephrology and inflammation therapies. It has 23 commercialized drugs on the market in the U.S. Enbrel, Amgen’s tumor necrosis factor blocker, has led product sales at the company since 2018. The Thousand Oaks, Calif.–based company earlier this year announced plans to acquire Rodeo Therapeutics for…
Astellas Pharma
Astellas Pharma is a Tokyo-based company developing pharmaceuticals for a broad range of therapeutics, including cardiology, immunology, infectious disease, oncology and urology. The company commercializes 12 drugs in the U.S., with its Xtandi prostate-cancer-treating drug leading sales in its most recent fiscal year. –DK
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a Cambridge, U.K.-based company that was launched into the global spotlight last year when its COVID-19 vaccine candidate was one of a number of vaccines that have been widely approved and administered so far to flatten the curve of the pandemic. The EU authorized the AstraZeneca vaccine on Jan. 29 this year, though…
Aurobindo Pharma
Starting in the late 1980s with a single unit manufacturing semi-synthetic penicillin (SSP) in Pondicherry, the Indian company now touts itself as the market leader for SSPs. It has a multi-product portfolio with manufacturing facilities in several countries. On top of antibiotics, it provides therapies in segments including neurosciences, cardiovascular, anti-retroviral, anti-diabetics, and gastroenterology. It…
Bausch Health
Bausch Health’s Salix segment sells GI products in the United States, while its Ortho Dermatologics segment sells dermatological products in the U.S. and Solta medical aesthetic devices globally. The company’s Diversified Products segment in the U.S. sells pharmaceutical products in neurology and other therapeutic classes, generic products, and dentistry products. –CN
Bayer (Pharmaceuticals Division)
Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division in 2020 went shopping, concluding more than 25 collaboration agreements and acquisitions. Bayer officials saw the purchase of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical (AskBio) in 2020 and BlueRock Therapeutics in 2019 as giving the company a strong position in the fast-growing field of cell and gene therapies. The company estimates the market for cell and…
Biogen
Biogen is developing therapeutics for people living with serious neurological and neurodegenerative diseases and related therapeutic adjacencies. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company makes medicines to treat multiple sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy. It is also focused on advancing research programs with neuroimmunology, Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, neuromuscular disorders, movement disorders, ophthalmology, neuropsychiatry, immunology, acute neurology and…
Boehringer Ingelheim
Ingelheim, Germany–based Boehringer Ingelheim is the world’s largest private pharmaceutical company. Founded in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim started out producing ingredients for baking powder and carbonated beverages. Now, Boehringer Ingelheim’s core areas include making drugs to treat cardiovascular disease, oncology, respiratory problems, metabolic disease, immunology, retinal health and central nervous system disorders. Boehringer Ingelheim also has…
Bristol Myers Squibb
Tracing its origins back to the Squibb corporation founding in 1858, Bristol Myers Squibb makes several blockbuster drugs. Its bestselling drugs include the cancer immunotherapy Opdivo (2020 sales of $7 billion), the rheumatoid arthritis treatment Orencia ($3.2 billion) and the chemotherapy Sprycel ($2.1 billion). Its bestselling drug chemotherapy drug Revlimid, however, was acquired through its…
Catalent
The Somerset, N.J.–headquartered company was formed in 2007 when the investment management company the Blackstone Group purchased the pharma technologies and services division of Cardinal Health. Catalent now specializes in drug delivery, biologics, drug manufacturing and gene therapies. In February 2020, it acquired Masthercell Global, a contract developer of cell and gene therapy. The company…
Chugai Pharmaceutical (Roche, majority owner)
Under a strategic alliance forged with Roche in 2002, Chugai maintained management independence while gaining the exclusive right to market Roche’s products in Japan. Chugai also has access to the Roche Group’s research infrastructure and global platform. Chugai boasts unique antibody engineering technologies as it continues to refine its scientific and technological strengths. –CN
CSL, including CSL Behring
CSL Behring is a biotechnology company developing recombinant and plasma-derived technology for rare and serious diseases such as hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, primary immune deficiencies, chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, hereditary angioedema and inherited respiratory disease. Australia-based CSL’s two product portfolios, CSL Behring and Seqirus, provide therapeutics and influenza vaccines to different global populations. –DK
Daiichi Sankyo
Japan-based Daiichi Sankyo is a pharmaceutical company developing drugs for oncology, cardiovascular as well as vaccines. It also makes medication for Type 2 diabetes, migraines, iron deficiency anemia, Alzheimer’s disease, ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, pain and epilepsy. The company has also collaborated with AstraZeneca to co-develop DS-1062 as a monotherapy/combination therapy for lung cancer, breast cancer…
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
The late scientist and entrepreneur K. Anji Reddy started the Indian multinational in 1984 to make medicines accessible to everyone. The company’s global generics business crossed the $1 billion mark in 2015. These days, the company offers more than 400 generic drugs and touts itself as one of the world’s largest makers of active pharmaceuticals…
Eisai
Formed from the merger of two labs in 1944, Esai now boasts a global network of R&D facilities, manufacturing sites and marketing subsidiaries, including its Eisai Center for Genetics Guided Dementia Discovery (G2D2) that fully opened in Cambridge, Mass. in 2019. The company has a particular focus on neurology and oncology. –CN
Eli Lilly
Eli Lilly was founded in 1876 and has 24 drugs that it currently manufactures and distributes in 120 countries. The Indianapolis-based company makes drugs for diabetes, oncology, immunology, neurosciences and other therapies, including COVID-19 treatment therapies. Eli Lilly picked up two companies in the last year. It bought Prevail Therapeutics for $880 million in January…
Endo International
Endo International roots go back to a 1997 management buyout at DuPont Merck, where the generics division had gone by the name Endo Laboratories. A maker of painkillers, including Percocet, it eliminated its entire U.S. pain products sales force in December 2016 as it faced increased scrutiny amid the opioid epidemic, according to its annual…