Merck & Co. has secured the top spot for pharmaceutical R&D investment again in 2024 after topping the list last year by a wide margin. While continuing to channel resources into expanding Keytruda’s oncology indications (with a 2025 patent cliff looming), Merck is also expanding beyond oncology. In cardiovascular, it launched Winrevair for pulmonary arterial hypertension with $419 million in sales. Vaccine efforts progressed with CAPVAXIVE, recommended by the CDC’s ACIP for pneumococcal vaccination in adults 50 and older. The company bolstered its pipeline through licensing deals, securing exclusive global rights to MK-2010 and MK-4082, and kicked off Phase 3 trials for four hematology and oncology candidates.
Cardiometabolic diseases take center stage, with seven potential approvals by 2030 projected to yield over $15 billion in peak revenue by the mid-2030s. MK-0616, an oral PCSK9 inhibitor for cholesterol reduction, awaits pivotal study results in 2025. The FDA accepted the Biologics License Application for clesrovimab, an RSV preventative antibody for infants. Merck also tracks 20 potential blockbuster drugs in development, eyeing a combined $50 billion in revenue.
Roche matches Merck’s R&D intensity
Matching Merck’s 27% R&D investment, Roche maintains its position as one of the pharma’s top R&D spenders. At its September 2024 Pharma Day, the company set a goal to launch 20 “transforming” drugs by 2029 in therapeutic areas with high societal impact. The company has prioritized 11 specific disease areas: breast cancer, lung cancer, blood cancers, hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic bowel disease, COPD, ocular hypertension, DLMA and obesity. Roche is also focusing more on obesity and weight management. Following its $2.7 billion acquisition of Carmot Therapeutics in late 2023, Roche gained access to three GLP-1 receptor agonists with “best-in-class potential to treat obesity.”
AstraZeneca targets $80 billion revenue by 2030 amid R&D expansion
AstraZeneca is pursuing an $80 billion total revenue target by 2030, underpinned by strategic R&D focused on oncology, biopharmaceuticals (CVRM, R&I), and rare diseases. The company reported 2024 total revenue growth of 21% and core EPS growth of 19%.
CEO Pascal Soriot described 2025 as the start of an “unprecedented, catalyst-rich period,” anticipating Phase 3 data readouts for seven potential new medicines within the year. This pipeline activity is supported by significant infrastructure investment, including $3.5 billion allocated for U.S. R&D and manufacturing expansion by 2026, $570 million in Canada, and a new $2.5 billion R&D center planned for Beijing.
Recent strategic moves include the acquisition of Fusion Pharmaceuticals (radioconjugates), intended to complement existing platforms like antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), cell therapy, and gene editing. While the company terminated its vemircopan Phase 2 program in January 2025, it projects high single-digit revenue growth for the full year 2025.
J&J Innovative Medicine aims for 20 new drugs by 2030
Following the Kenvue consumer health spin-off, Johnson & Johnson has refined its strategy to concentrate on its Innovative Medicine (pharmaceuticals) and MedTech divisions. Key pharmaceutical R&D areas include oncology, immunology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, pulmonary hypertension, and retina. The division targets the launch of 20 new drugs and 50 expanded indications by 2030.
J&J’s R&D investment in Innovative Medicine remains significant, representing 24% of the division’s 2024 revenue ($13.53 billion spend on $57.07 billion revenue). The company announced plans for over $55 billion in U.S. investment over the next four years.
Recent FDA approvals include Tremfya for ulcerative colitis and the Rybrevant combination for first-line lung cancer. However, J&J faces known 2025 challenges, including the U.S. loss of exclusivity for Stelara and financial impacts from the Medicare Part D redesign.
AbbVie banks on immunology duo amid Humira erosion
AbbVie’s R&D bets center on diversifying revenue following U.S. biosimilar competition for Humira. The immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq remain central growth drivers, with AbbVie raising combined sales guidance to nearly $24 billion for 2025 and over $31 billion by 2027.
To support its pipeline, AbbVie completed acquisitions of ImmunoGen (oncology ADC Elahere), Cerevel Therapeutics (neuroscience), Landos Biopharma (IBD), and Nimble Therapeutics (peptide therapeutics) over late 2023 and early 2025. Despite ongoing Humira revenue decline and an estimated $2 billion headwind from the Medicare Part D redesign in 2025, AbbVie projects mid-single-digit total revenue growth for the year with its its neuroscience franchise reaching $10 billion in sales in 2025.
Top 25 investors in pharma R&D 2024
| Company | 2024 Revenues (USD billion) | 2024 R&D Spend (USD billion) | R&D Ratio (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merck & Co. | $64.17 | $17.94 | 28 |
| Roche Group | $52.45 | $14.81 | 28 |
| AstraZeneca plc | $54.07 | $13.58 | 25 |
| Johnson & Johnson¹ | $57.07 | $13.53 | 24 |
| AbbVie | $56.33 | $12.80 | 23 |
| Bristol Myers Squibb | $48.30 | $11.16 | 23 |
| Eli Lilly | $45.04 | $10.99 | 24 |
| Pfizer Inc. | $63.63 | $10.82 | 17 |
| Novartis AG | $50.32 | $10.02 | 20 |
| GSK plc | $40.10 | $8.18 | 20 |
| Sanofi S.A. | $44.47 | $8.00 | 18 |
| Novo Nordisk | $42.11 | $6.97 | 17 |
| Amgen | $33.42 | $5.96 | 18 |
| Gilead Sciences | $28.75 | $5.91 | 21 |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals | $14.20 | $5.13 | 36 |
| Takeda Pharmaceutical | $28.16 | $4.82 | 17 |
| Moderna | $3.24 | $4.54 | 140 |
| Bayer² | $19.62 | $3.64 | 19 |
| Vertex Pharmaceuticals | $11.02 | $3.63 | 33 |
| Incyte | $4.24 | $2.61 | 62 |
| BioNTech | $2.98 | $2.44 | 82 |
| Daiichi Sankyo | $10.59 | $2.41 | 23 |
| Biogen | $9.68 | $2.04 | 21 |
| Astellas Pharma | $10.60 | $1.94 | 18 |
| Otsuka Holdings³ | $9.19 | $1.93 | 21 |
Notes:
- All currency figures are in USD billions.
- ¹ Johnson & Johnson figures represent the ‘Innovative Medicine’ division.
- ² Bayer figures represent the ‘Pharmaceutical division’.
- ³ Otsuka Holdings figures represent the ‘Pharma segment’.
- R&D Ratio calculated as (R&D Spend / Revenue) * 100, rounded to the nearest whole number.
- Companies are ranked based on 2024 R&D Spend in USD. Data sourced from the provided CSV. Companies without R&D Spend data in the source file were excluded from this ranking.
Filed Under: Pharma 50
