10 Biggest Biotechnology Companies

The biotechnology industry is composed of hundreds of companies that fuse biology and technology to develop drugs and related products for the treatment of diseases and medical conditions. Today’s biotechnology industry includes companies that make medical devices and diagnostics, biofuels, biomaterials, pollution controls, and more.

Among the largest companies in the industry are those researching and producing pharmaceutical solutions. These companies generally focus on creating and testing new drug compounds for medical use and must go through lengthy trial and approval processes for their products. This means investors often must wait months or even years before knowing whether a potential drug therapy is usable or profitable.

Despite the many challenges facing biotechnology companies, several enterprises have risen to the top of the list. Below, we look at the 10 biggest as measured by 12-month trailing (TTM) revenue. This list is limited to publicly traded companies in the U.S. or Canada, either directly or through American depository receipts (ADRs). Some foreign companies may report semiannually and may have longer lag times.

All revenue and net income figures are as of Q3 2024 unless otherwise stated. Market cap is as of Nov. 17, 2024. All of these numbers are provided by TradingView. The one-year trailing total return is as of Nov. 15, 2024, and is provided by Morningstar.

• Revenue (TTM): $39.33 billion
• Net Income (TTM): $13.78 billion
• Market Cap: $445.39 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: 7.01%
• Exchange: New York Stock Exchange

Novo Nordisk is a multinational biotech company headquartered in Denmark with production facilities in seven countries and affiliates or offices in 16 countries.

The company’s primary focus is diabetes care, hemophilia care, growth hormone therapy, and hormone replacement therapy. The company makes several drugs under various brand names, including Levemir, NovoLog, Novolin R, NovoSeven, NovoEight, and Victoza.

• Revenue (TTM): $13.85 billion
• Net Income (TTM): $4.65 billion
• Market Cap: $83.11 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: -4.49%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Biopharmaceutical company Regeneron develops and markets drug treatments for patients with eye disease, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, allergic and inflammatory issues, and infectious diseases. The company aims to conduct one of the largest gene sequencing operations worldwide through its Regeneron Genetics Center.

• Revenue (TTM): $10.62 billion
• Net Income (TTM): -$479.80 billion
• Market Cap: $120.18 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: 33.31%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Biopharmaceutical company Vertex focuses on creating and marketing drug treatments for patients with cancer, cystic fibrosis, autoimmune diseases, neurological disorders, and others.

• Revenue (TTM): $5.07 billion
• Net Income (TTM): -$2.22 billion
• Market Cap: $15.03 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: -51.75%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Moderna is headquartered in Cambridge, MA. It became incorporated in 2010, making it one of the youngest biotech firms on the list.

The company develops medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNA), a single-strand molecule that makes life-sustaining proteins. Moderna made headlines after developing an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine in 2020.

Moderna focuses its mRNA medicines on autoimmune disorders, rare and infectious diseases, and immuno-oncology.

• Revenue (TTM): $3.32 billion
• Net Income (TTM): -$860.46 million
• Market Cap: $21.15 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: -3.72%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

BeiGene is a Chinese-based company with headquarters in Beijing, China, Basel, Switzerland, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is a global oncology company, developing oncology medicines, currently with “the potential to address 80% of the world’s cancers by type.”

The company’s primary drugs are Brukinsa, used for B-cell malignancies, Tislelizumab, used for therapy against solid tumors and hematologic malignancies, and Pamiparib, which is currently being tested for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

• Revenue (TTM): $3.30 billion
• Net Income (TTM): -$501.56 billion
• Market Cap: $23.91 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: -0.98%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

BioNTech is headquartered in Mainz, Germany. It was founded in 2008 by Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Turci, a husband and wife team who desired to tailor cancer treatments for individual patients. In 2020, it partnered with Pfizer to develop the first COVID-19 vaccine.

• Revenue (TTM): $2.87 billion
• Net Income (TTM): $674.78 million
• Market Cap: $13.49 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: -34.39%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Genmab was founded in 1999 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The company’s focus is on antibody therapy to treat cancer and other serious diseases. It currently has eight approved therapies, four proprietary technologies, and multiple proprietary clinical programs.

• Revenue (TTM): $2.75 billion
• Net Income (TTM): $322.29 million
• Market Cap: $11.84 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: -27.15%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Founded in 1997, BioMarin is headquartered in San Rafael, CA. It has 3,000 employees and focuses on developing treatments for genetic disorders such as phenylketonuria (PKU), CLN2 disease, MPS (IVA, VA, I), and achondroplasia.

• Revenue (TTM): $2.09 billion
• Net Income (TTM): -$332.26 million
• Market Cap: $30.05 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: 37.71%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Alnylam is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded in 2002 and its focus has been on RNAi therapeutics. The company’s first commercial medicine was approved in 2018 and since then, four more have been approved.

The company’s pipeline of treatments focuses on a variety of health issues, such as hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, hemophilia, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Hepatitis B and D, and more.

• Revenue (TTM), H1 2024: $1.61 billion
• Net Income (TTM), H1 2024: -$204.55 million
• Market Cap: $34.34 billion
• 1-Year Trailing Total Return: 18.74%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Argenx is headquartered in the Netherlands and focuses on immunology solutions to treat autoimmune diseases. The company operates by bringing together its antibody engineering expertise with external scientific and academic professionals to create treatments.

The Bottom Line

Biotech companies are responsible for using technology to enhance biological studies and developments to enrich our lives. You see the results of their efforts in medicines, vaccines, agricultural products, medical devices, and many other products that improve how we live and treat the planet.