List of the Top 10 Pharma Companies

Last Updated: Aug 20, 2015 | By Richard Nilsen

The difference among the top 10 listed pharmaceutical, also called pharma, companies worldwide is measured in billions of dollars in sales, with a reported $315 billion in sales from United States pharma companies in 2007 alone. According to Reuters news service, the U.S. pharma complex has been strongly affected by generic drugs, research and development and competition from foreign pharma companies. Unless research and development continues strong in new drug development, as patents buy generic drugs and undercut brand name drugs, there may be a shift in ranking the top drug producers worldwide. The list of top pharma companies is in descending order of pharma sales. If total revenues were the criteria, No. 7’s Johnson & Johnson would move to the top of the list at $61.1 billion. All figures are in U.S. dollars for the 2007 budget year.

Pfizer has $44.4 billion in pharma sales with total revenues are at $48.4 billion and net profits and R&D each at $8 billion. The top selling drug was the cholesterol drug Lipitor at $12.7 billion.

Pfizer: 235 E. 42nd St. New York, NY 10017-5755, www.pfizer.com.

GlaxoSmithKline, abbreviated GSK, has pharma sales of $38.5 billion, total revenues of $45.5 billion and a net income of $10.6 billion with an R&D budget of $6.6 billion. The top seller is Advair for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder treatment at $7 billion.

GSK: 980 Great West Road. Brentford, Middlesex TW8 9GS, UK, www.gsk.com.

Sanofi-Aventis had a gross pharma sales of $38.5 billion, all of the company's revenue. Net income is $9.7 billion and R&D $6.2 billion. Sanofi-Aventis' leading drug is the thrombosis medication Lovenox at $3.6 billion.

S-A: 174 Avenue de France, 75013 Paris, France, www.sanofi-aventis.com.

AstraZeneca has a pharma revenue of $28.7 billion and total revenues of $29.6 billion. Net income is $8 billion and R&D budget is $5.2 billion. AstraZeneca’s top seller is the acid reflux medication Nexium at $5.2 billion.

AZ: 15 Stanhope Gate, London W1K 1LN, UK, www.astrazeneca.com.

Merck had $26.5 billion in pharma sales with $26.8 billion in total revenues. Net income of $3.3 billion and R&D budget of $4.9 billion were reported. The top pharma for asthma relief was Singulair at $4.2 billion.

Merck: One Merck Dr. / P.O. Box 100, Whitehouse Station, NJ 08889-0100, www.merck.com.

Novartis had pharma sales of $25.5 billion and total revenues of $39.8 billion. It had a net income of $12 billion and R&D budget of $6.3 billion. The highest pharma sales item was the hypertension medication Diovan at $5 billion.

Novartis: Lichtstrasse 35, CH-4056, Basel, Switzerland, www.novartis.com.

Johnson & Johnson had pharma sales of $24.9 billion and total revenues of $61.1 billion. Net income was $10.6 billion and R&D budget was $7.7 billion. The anti-psychotic medication Risperdal was the leading seller at $4.7 billion.

Johnson & Johnson: One Johnson & Johnson Plaza, New Brunswick, NJ 08933, www.jnj.com.

Roche of Switzerland reported pharma sales of $22 billion with total revenues of $38.5 billion. Net income was $9.5 billion and R&D budget was $7 billion. The breast cancer pharma Herceptin was the big seller at $2.8 billion.

Roche: Grenzacherstrasse 124, CH-4070 Basel, Switzerland, www.roche.com.

Lilly reported $17.6 billion in pharma revenues with total revenues of $18.6 billion. Net income was $3 billion and R&D budget was $3.5 billion. Lilly’s top selling pharma was the schizophrenia drug Zyprexa.

Lilly: Lilly Corporate Center, Indianapolis, IN 46285, www.lilly.com.

Wyeth reported pharma revenues of $17.2 billion and total revenues of $22.4 billion. Net income was $4.6 billion and R&D budget was $3.3 billion. The top selling drug at Wyeth was the depression drug Effexor at $3.8 billion.

Wyeth: Five Giralda Farms, Madison, NJ 07940, www.wyeth.com.