Johnson & Johnson Reclaims Top Spot, Novo Nordisk Leads Growth, Pfizer Ranks Fourth — Global Pharma Revenue Rankings Released!

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Johnson & Johnson Again Tops Global Pharmaceutical Company Revenue Rankings.

Recently, Fierce Pharma released the list of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies globally by revenue in 2023, with Johnson & Johnson leading at $85.16 billion.(Pharmaceutical Business + Medical Device Business)Johnson & Johnson's revenue once again topped the list, leading the second-place Roche by nearly 20 billion US dollars.

This figure does not yet include Kenvue — Johnson & Johnson's consumer health business. In September 2022, Johnson & Johnson officially spun off its consumer health business, which was independently listed under the name Kenvue. It is reported that Kenvue's revenue in 2023 reached 15.4 billion U.S. dollars. If the revenue contributed by Kenvue is added, Johnson & Johnson’s actual income in 2023 has exceeded 100 billion U.S. dollars, making it the second pharmaceutical company with annual revenue surpassing 100 billion U.S. dollars.

The first pharmaceutical company to break through $100 billion in annual revenue is Pfizer. In 2022, the sales of Pfizer's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine co-developed with BioNTech reached $37.8 billion, and the sales of Paxlovid were $18.9 billion. With these two COVID-19 products alone, Pfizer secured $55.7 billion.

Johnson & Johnson Regains Top Position, a Move Expected by Most Industry Insiders

According to Johnson & Johnson's announcement, the company's revenue is expected to maintain an annual growth rate of 5%~7% during 2025~2030. Its pharmaceutical business revenue will also steadily increase, with an anticipated contribution of $57 billion in revenue by 2024. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Johnson & Johnson will most likely retain its position as the top pharmaceutical company by revenue next year.

This conclusion is drawn partly because Johnson & Johnson's revenue is significantly higher compared to other pharmaceutical companies, making it difficult for them to bridge this gap within a year. Currently, the pharmaceutical sector is Johnson & Johnson's largest source of income, generating $54.76 billion in 2023. Its medical device segment generated $30.4 billion in revenue in 2023, which is one of the main reasons it has been able to widen the gap with other pharmaceutical companies.

On the other hand, it is based on Johnson & Johnson's currently demonstrated steady growth capability. According to recent information released by Johnson & Johnson, in Q1 2024, Johnson & Johnson achieved a total revenue of $21.38 billion, compared to Q1 2023.($20.89 billion)Growth increased by approximately 2%. In addition, Johnson & Johnson also has products such as Darzalex.(Daratumumab)、Erleada(Apalutamide)Such a significant increase in a single product is sufficient to provide stable growth for the company's performance over a long period of time.

Next, let's talk about Novo Nordisk, which had the largest revenue growth in 2023.

According to FiercePharma statistics, Novo Nordisk's total revenue in 2023 was 232.26 billion Danish kroner, approximately $33.7 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 31.5%. Its annual revenue ranked 12th among global pharmaceutical companies, rising five places from 17th last year.

Behind Novo Nordisk's tremendous success is the boost from its GLP-1 product, semaglutide. Semaglutide, the top influencer of 2023, is known in the industry as the "miracle weight-loss drug." Currently, Novo Nordisk's semaglutide products mainly include: Ozempic, an injectable diabetes treatment; Wegovy, an injectable weight management product; and Rybelsus, an oral diabetes medication. These three products collectively contributed 145,811 million Danish kroner to Novo Nordisk’s revenue in 2023.($21.201 billion)The revenue is almost two-thirds of Novo Nordisk's annual revenue.

One point to mention here is that GLP-1 products, due to their outstanding indication accessibility and the consumer attributes brought by weight-loss indications, have a large market capacity. In the short term, there should not be a situation where revenue declines due to competition from similar products. Considering various factors, the biggest challenge for Novo Nordisk's semaglutide product at present is insufficient production capacity. In other words, as long as the production capacity issue is resolved, Novo Nordisk’s revenue still has significant room for growth.

And according to the news over the past year, Novo Nordisk has been tirelessly building factories and expanding capacity.

Eli Lilly also benefited from the GLP-1 class of products. In 2023, Eli Lilly's revenue reached $34.1 billion, increasing by 20% year-on-year. Its revenue ranked 11th, with growth second only to Novo Nordisk. Besides the two approved tirzepatide products（Mounjaro+Zepbound）, Currently, its three-target weight-loss drug Retatrutide under research has shown considerable potential. With several重磅products in the pipeline or already on the market, Eli Lilly's prospects are highly anticipated in the industry and it currently ranks first in market value among MNCs.

Next, let's talk about the pharmaceutical company with the largest drop — Pfizer.

In 2023, Pfizer's total revenue was $58.5 billion, which was directly halved compared to the glorious results of 2022. However, this did not prevent Pfizer from ranking 4th among a group of pharmaceutical companies in terms of revenue for 2023.

The astonishing drop in Pfizer's revenue has a public cause — the sharp decline in COVID-19 product revenue. According to Pfizer's financial report, revenue from the 2023 COVID-19 mRNA vaccine Comirnaty fell by 70%, and revenue from the COVID-19 treatment drug Paxlovid dropped by 90%.

Pfizer's official information mentioned that, excluding the impact of COVID-19 products, the company's overall revenue still maintained a good growth state, with a year-on-year increase of 7%. The new heart disease drugs Vyndaqel and Vyndamax showed relatively fast revenue growth.(An increase of 36% year-on-year), RSV Vaccine Product Abrysvo(Released in 2023)、New Migraine Drug Nurtec ODT/Vyduraetc.

The announcement also mentioned that the growth in the coming years is likely to come from Seagen, which was acquired for $43 billion. It is reported that Seagen's pipeline is nurturing several blockbuster products with potential billion-dollar molecules, including up to 25 anti-cancer drugs that are expected to cover more than 40 indications, which is highly anticipated.

It can be seen that in the post-epidemic era, Pfizer, with its revenue returning to normal levels, still has the potential to move forward.

Besides the aforementioned, with the exit of the nouveau riche who rose to prominence through the success of COVID-19 products, Viatris has returned to the list of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies by revenue. Additionally, the revenue of the remaining pharmaceutical companies in 2023 fluctuated slightly within an acceptable range. From a macro perspective, these fluctuations fall within the normal operational state of a pharmaceutical company.

The following is the list of TOP20 pharmaceutical companies in terms of global revenue in 2023, provided by Fierce Pharma.

2.www.fiercepharma.com

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