2024 Global Pharma Revenue Top 10: Johnson & Johnson Leads, Eli Lilly Posts Fastest Growth

As of February 9, among the top 15 multinational pharmaceutical companies in the 2024 Global Pharmaceutical Enterprises Top 50 ranking, all have released their full-year financial reports for 2024. Reporters from the Health Client of People's Daily noticed,Johnson & Johnson retained the top position with a total revenue of 88.821 billion, while Roche and Merck ranked second and third, respectively.Pfizer, AbbVie, AstraZeneca, and Novartis followed closely, each with revenues exceeding 50 billion USD. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly were further behind, while Sanofi ranked last with a revenue of 44.561 billion USD. Compared to last year, Eli Lilly entered the top 10 list, while GlaxoSmithKline fell off the list.

Notably, unlike last year, in the year-on-year growth of total revenue in 2024, all pharmaceutical companies achieved growth.Lilly, AstraZeneca, and Novartis ranked top three with revenue growth rates of 32%, 21%, and 12%, respectively.

According to Eli Lilly's full-year financial report for 2024Lilly's high growth is attributed to the support of several star products, among which the most outstanding is the once-weekly GLP-1/GIP dual agonist tirzepatide.Financial reports show that the sales of the hypoglycemic version of tirzepatide, Mounjaro, exceeded 10 billion US dollars in 2024, reaching 11.5401 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year increase of 124%.

AstraZeneca's disclosed 2024 financial report shows that the five core areas—oncology, cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, respiratory and immunology, vaccines and immunity, and rare diseases—all achieved growth in 2024.Of which, the oncology business revenue increased by 24% to US$22.353 billion, accounting for 41% of the company's total revenue.

Novartis' rapid performance growth is mainly due to having 14 blockbuster drugs with annual sales exceeding 1 billion US dollars, among which the top-ranking cardiovascular drug Sacubitril/Valsartan generated a revenue of up to 7.822 billion US dollars for the whole year.Following closely, the psoriasis treatment drug Secukinumab Injection reached $6.141 billion, with revenue growth of 114%. The ultra-long-acting lipid-lowering drug Inclisiran Sodium Injection shows potential as a "rising star."

In 2024, multinational pharmaceutical companies showed significant divergence in their performance in the Chinese market. As the second-largest market for Novartis globally, China generated annual sales of $3.9 billion, representing a 21% year-on-year increase, far exceeding the global average growth rate. AstraZeneca also performed exceptionally well in the Chinese market, with total revenue achieving an 11% double-digit growth, reaching $6.4 billion, accounting for 12% of its global income.

By contrast, Merck's overall revenue in China in 2024 was unsatisfactory, with total annual sales reaching only $5.394 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 20%. The proportion of the company's global pharmaceutical business income contributed by China dropped from 12.5% to 9.4%. The main reason for this decline was the reduced demand for the flagship product, the 9-valent HPV (cervical cancer) vaccine, in the Chinese market.

Source: People's Daily Health Client