2023 Hurun Global 500 Unveiled: Eli Lilly Tops as World's Most Valuable Pharmaceutical Company

Driven by weight-loss drugs, Eli Lilly rose six places to 9th, with its value increasing by 62% to reach 3.8 trillion yuan, becoming the world's most valuable pharmaceutical company. This marks the first time Eli Lilly has entered the top ten and is also the only pharmaceutical company to make it into the top ten this year.

Eli Lilly's financial report shows that its revenue in the third quarter of 2023 was $9.5 billion, increasing by over 37% year-on-year, surpassing the expected $9.02 billion. The gross margin was 80.4%, higher than 77.3% in the same period last year.

Its main products are the diabetes treatment drug Mounjaro and the weight-loss drug Zepbound.

Eli Lilly's blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro, launched in the second half of last year, posted extremely impressive revenue data. Sales surpassed the $1 billion mark for the first time, reaching $1.41 billion, exceeding the expected $1.31 billion. This represents a year-over-year surge of 650% and a quarter-over-quarter increase of 44%, accounting for nearly 15% of Eli Lilly's total revenue.

Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk rose 30 places to 14th position, with its value doubling to 3.1 trillion yuan, becoming the most valuable company in Europe.

On January 31, 2024, Novo Nordisk released its 2023 financial report, with total annual revenue of approximately 232.261 billion Danish kroner (about 33.771 billion US dollars), representing a year-on-year increase of 31%; operating profit was about 102.574 billion Danish kroner (approximately 14.914 billion US dollars), up 37% year-on-year, and net profit reached 22 billion Danish kroner (approximately 3.2 billion US dollars).

The reason for Novo Nordisk's strong performance is the rapid growth of its multiple GLP-1 drugs.

The GLP-1 drug semaglutide, developed by Novo Nordisk, is the company's flagship product. Its weight-loss indication, Wegovy, is referred to by some as a "miracle weight-loss drug." Last year, its sales reached 31.343 billion Danish kroner, representing an increase of over 406% compared to 6.188 billion Danish kroner in 2022.

Novo Nordisk stated that the growth was mainly driven by the GLP-1 diabetes treatment sector and the obesity treatment sector. In terms of business, revenue from diabetes and obesity care reached approximately 215.098 billion Danish kroner (about 31.275 billion US dollars), representing a year-on-year increase of 38%. Among this, revenue from GLP-1 diabetes products was approximately 123.132 billion Danish kroner (about 17.903 billion US dollars), marking a 48% year-on-year increase; revenue from obesity products reached about 41.632 billion Danish kroner (approximately 6.053 billion US dollars), showing a 147% year-on-year increase.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly both had a stellar year, with their values increasing by RMB 1.8 trillion (to RMB 3.1 trillion) and RMB 1.5 trillion (to RMB 3.8 trillion), respectively, driven by surging sales of their diabetes drugs, which are also regarded as effective weight-loss medications.

In dollar terms, the biggest losers were Johnson & Johnson, which faced talc-related lawsuits (down 630 billion yuan in value), and Pfizer, affected by declining demand for Covid-19 vaccines (down 570 billion).

Pfizer: On January 30, 2024, Pfizer's financial report showed that in 2023, the company's total annual revenue was $58.496 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 42%; net profit was $2.119 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 93%. Pfizer's revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023 was $3.369 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 41%.

Since the beginning of 2023, revenue from COVID-19 products has started to decline significantly, with the situation changing faster than Pfizer expected. Revenue from Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty and treatment drug Paxlovid plummeted to $11.22 billion and $1.279 billion, respectively, representing decreases of 70% and 92%. Together, they accounted for 21% of Pfizer's total revenue.

• Ranked 9th, Eli Lilly (valued at 3.8 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 14th, Novo Nordisk (3.1 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 18th, Johnson & Johnson (valued at 2.6 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 30th, AbbVie (valued at 1.8 trillion yuan)

• Roche ranked 41st (valued at 1.5 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 46th, AstraZeneca (valued at 1.4 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 50th, Novartis (valued at 1.3 trillion yuan)

• Pfizer ranked 52nd (valued at 1.3 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 57th, Abbott (valued at 1.2 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 75th, Amgen (valued at 1.0 trillion yuan)

• Ranked 95th, Sanofi (valued at 0.8 trillion yuan)

Table 1. Top 100 of Hurun Global 500 2023, Source: Hurun Research Institute

33 Chinese companies entered the 2023 Hurun Global 500, including two pharmaceutical companies: Hengrui, ranked 366th with a value of 304 billion yuan, and WuXi AppTec, ranked 418th with a value of 261 billion yuan.

Hengrui: Entering 2023, Hengrui's revenue and net profit have returned to a growth track. In the first three quarters of 2023, its revenue reached 17.014 billion yuan, with the Q3 single-quarter net profit increasing by 10.57% year-on-year.

In terms of R&D investment, Hengrui has never stopped growing. In the first three quarters of 2023, R&D expenses reached 3.73 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.5%.

Currently, Hengrui has 10 innovative drugs approved for marketing, with more than 50 innovative drugs in clinical development. Among them, 15 are in Phase III clinical trials or have submitted marketing applications, and over 40 are in Phase I-II clinical trials.

In 2023, Hengrui Medicine had five license-out deals. In terms of BD transaction amounts, Hengrui Medicine had two BD deals exceeding 1 billion US dollars each, one of which involved the TSLP monoclonal antibody SHR-1905. In October, Hengrui signed three more deals, one of which was a collaboration with Merck worth 1.4 billion euros.

At the same time, Hengrui Medicine's "Double Ai" combination for first-line treatment of liver cancer has also been accepted by the FDA for market application, with the potential to enter the U.S. market.

WuXi AppTec: Public data shows that in the first three quarters of 2023, WuXi AppTec achieved a revenue of 29.541 billion yuan. Excluding COVID-19 commercial projects, revenue increased by 23.4% year-over-year; adjusted Non-IFRS net profit attributable to shareholders was 8.167 billion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 20.6%.

According to the company's updated earnings guidance, the full-year overall revenue, excluding COVID-19 commercial projects, is expected to exceed 40 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 25%~26%. The adjusted non-IFRS net profit will also surpass 10 billion yuan.

Hurun Research Institute released the "2023 Hurun Global 500" (2023 Hurun Global 500), listing the top 500 non-state-owned enterprises in the world, ranked by market value or valuation.

The market value of listed companies is calculated based on the closing price on October 31, 2023. The valuation of non-listed companies is estimated by referring to listed companies in the same industry or according to the latest round of financing. This is the fourth consecutive release of the "Hurun Global 500" list by the Hurun Research Institute.