Top 10 Global Pharmaceutical Companies by Revenue in the First Three Quarters of 2025

Nov 16, 2025 11:46 CST Updated 11:46

Johnson & Johnson

Medical Device R&D and Manufacturer

AstraZeneca

Pharmaceutical Technology Research and Development Provider

Sanofi

Pharmaceutical Manufacturer

The financial data for the first three quarters of 2025 are being released gradually, showing a clear growth map in the performance of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies.

In terms of absolute revenue, Eli Lilly achieved a cumulative revenue of $45.887 billion in the first nine months, representing a year-on-year increase of 46%, securing the top position without any doubt.

Its Q3 revenue of $17.601 billion and a year-on-year increase of 54% further highlights its strong growth momentum. This performance is mainly attributed to the significant market demand for its blockbuster drugs in the diabetes and obesity fields, such as GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonists. A robust pipeline of innovative products has become the core driver of its performance.

Following closely behind is Pfizer, with revenue of $45.022 billion in the first three quarters, ranking second. However, in contrast to Eli Lilly's high growth, Pfizer's performance showed a slight decline.Revenue in the first three quarters and the third quarter fell by 2% and 6% year-on-year, respectively. This reflects that after the normalization of demand for COVID-19 products, the company is in an adjustment phase of its business cycle and needs to rely on other innovative products and acquisitions to fill the revenue gap.

Ranking third to fifth are Johnson & Johnson, AbbVie, and Merck.Revenue exceeded $43 billion for all three companies. Each of them achieved slight positive growth or remained stable, demonstrating the resilience of their mature product portfolios. Notably, AbbVie's 9% growth in the third quarter stood out among its peers.

The growth highlights are AstraZeneca, ranked sixth, and Novartis, ranked eighth.AstraZeneca's revenue in the first three quarters reached $43.236 billion, a year-on-year increase of 11%, making it one of the fastest-growing companies among the top ten. AstraZeneca's innovative drug portfolio in oncology and cardiometabolic diseases has achieved remarkable results. Novartis also achieved a revenue of $41.196 billion with an 11% growth rate in the first three quarters, and its strategy of focusing on core therapeutic areas is paying off.

Roche (Pharmaceuticals Division) and Sanofi, as representatives of European pharmaceutical companies, ranked seventh and ninth with revenues of $42.545 billion and $37.500 billion, respectively.And achieved a respectable growth of 9% and 9% (in the first three quarters) respectively. This indicates that they have maintained competitiveness through internal R&D and external collaboration when facing market competition and patent expiration challenges. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), with revenue of $35.692 billion, ranked tenth, showing a slight decrease of 1% in performance.

Looking ahead, competition in the pharmaceutical industry will increasingly focus on cutting-edge technology fields such as cell and gene therapy, neuroscience, and AI-driven new drug development. For these giants, how to balance revenue from existing products with massive investments in future pipelines will determine their rankings on the next five-year leaderboard.

Reference: PharmaFriends

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Editor-in-Chief of PharmaCircle—Huá Jí Měirén (Ww_150525)
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