Photo courtesy of Novartis AG

Top 20 Pharma Companies Report

Last year (our 2005 edition), Pfizer was 47% ahead of its closest competitor in drug revenues ($46 billion to $31 billion), but that margin was shaved to 30% in 2005 as Pfizer sales dropped 4%. The company remains at #1 in our Top 20 Pharmaceutical rankings, with a $10 billion buffer between it and neck-and-neck competitors Sanofi-Aventis and GlaxoSmithKline, but for how long?

Roche posted the biggest dollar gains in 2005 revenues, up $2.8 billion (20%), thanks to a major contribution from Tamiflu (up $987 million in 2005).

At the lower end of our ranks, recent mergers in Japan have brought Astellas and Daiichi-Sankyo into the Top 20. Bayer’s acquisition of Schering AG will lead to another major jump next year, and more pressure placed on mid-tier firms.

Come to think of it, if a few of these “national champion” mergers come through—think GSK/AstraZeneca, and the long-anticipated Novartis/Roche combo—we could see a whole new lineup. . .

—Gil Y. Roth
Editor

Contributors

Editor:    Gil Y. Roth
Associate Editor:    Kristin Brooks

Top 20 Pharmaceutical Companies
based on 2005 pharma revenues
1	Pfizer	$44,284
2	Sanofi-Aventis	$34,013
3	GlaxoSmithKline	$33,976
4	AstraZeneca	$23,950
5	Johnson & Johnson	$22,322
6	Merck & Co.	$21,874
7	Novartis	$20,262
8	Roche	$16,613
9	Bristol-Myers Squibb	$15,254
10	Wyeth	$14,280
11	Eli Lilly & Co.	$13,781
12	Abbott Laboratories	$13,300
13	Boehringer-Ingelheim	$9,025
14	Takeda Pharmaceutical	$9,019
15	Schering-Plough	$8,759
16	Astellas Pharma	$7,503
17	Daiichi-Sankyo	$6,944
18	Novo Nordisk	$5,643
19	Eisai	$5,131
20	Bayer AG	$5,065
Note: In all Top Company profiles, dollar amounts are in millions.