TOP 5 PHARMA COMPANIES

1. Johnson & Johnson

• 2019 revenue: $82.1 billion

• 2018 revenue: $81.6 billion

• Headquarters: New Brunswick, New Jersey

The largest drug company worldwide by overall sales, Johnson & Johnson is a global healthcare behemoth spanning pharmaceuticals, consumer healthcare and medical devices. But its pharma group has outperformed its other units for several years now, driven by sales expansions in oncology and immunology.

In all last year, J&J’s pharma sales grew 5.8% at constant currencies to $42.2 billion, outpacing 3% growth in consumer healthcare. Medical device sales slipped 1.7% to $29.63 billion.

2. Roche

• 2019 revenue: CHF 61.47 billion ($63.54 billion)

• 2018 revenue: CHF 56.85 billion ($58.76 billion)

• Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland

Roche weathered an eventful 2019. The first wave of biosimilars to its three best-selling drugs—Rituxan, Avastin and Herceptin—hit the scene in the U.S. What looked to be a painless acquisition of Spark Therapeutics unexpectedly became a poster child for closer antitrust scrutiny. And the FDA wrapped the year up with a swift approval for AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Enhertu, a major threat to Roche’s megablockbuster breast cancer franchise.

The wave began in mid-2019, when Amgen and Allergan rolled out Mvasi and Kanjinti—copycats to Avastin and Herceptin, respectively. Teva and Celltrion launched their Rituxan copy, Truxima, in November, followed by Mylan and Biocon’s Herceptin biosim Ogivri. Most recently, Pfizer rolled out versions of all three drugs in February.

3. Pfizer

• 2019 revenue: $51.75 billion

• 2018 revenue: $53.64 billion

• Headquarters: New York, New York

Pfizer’s first year under new CEO Albert Bourla wasn't without its turbulence, but analysts and investors have reason to be carefully optimistic: Pfizer orchestrated some major changes in 2019, slimming down and investing heavily in core products as part of a newly-touted focus on research and new medicines.

Pfizer’s revenue dipped 4% in 2019, totaling $51.7 billion compared with the previous year’s $53.6 billion. Though not ideal for Bourla’s first year at the helm, unavoidable blows like Lyrica’s patent expiration were bound to take their toll. Those generic rivals, plus competition from biosimilars and other copycat newcomers—familiar dilemmas for the company—accounted for a big portion of the revenue bite. Still, Pfizer held onto its third-place position among pharma companies by revenue in 2019.

4. Novartis

• 2019 revenue: $47.45 billion

• 2018 revenue: $44.75 billion

• Headquarters: Basel, Switzerland

Novartis kept things busy in 2019 as it continued to focus on becoming a top medicines company. It spun off eye care medtech business Alcon, but, at the same time, bought Shire’s Xiidra to boost its ophthalmic drug franchise and acquired The Medicines Company for cholesterol-lowering med inclisiran.

The company touted five new drug approvals with blockbuster potentials last year: the sickle cell treatment Adakveo, eye injection Beovu, multiple sclerosis therapy Mayzent, breast cancer med Piqray and gene therapy Zolgensma. But it also had its fair share of embarrassing moments.

5. Merck & Co.

• 2019 sales: $46.84 billion

• 2018 sales $42.29 billion

• Headquarters: Kenilworth, New Jersey

Propelled by immuno-oncology superstar Keytruda, Merck posted strong growth in 2019 and reached $46.84 billion in global sales. Merck was a standout performer among its Big Pharma peers, and now the company is shaking up its structure with a sizable spinoff.

Along with fourth-quarter results, Merck unveiled a spinoff of its women's health, legacy brands and biosimilars into a new company that's set to generate around $6.5 billion in 2020. The company expects the deal to be complete in the first half of 2021.