2024 is a remarkable year, with pharmaceutical giants seeing rapid sales growth. The threshold for entering the top 10 pharmaceutical companies has reached $44.5 billion, and Merck has once again become the world's largest pharmaceutical giant after many years.
On February 4, Merck announced its 2024 performance, with total annual revenue of $64.168 billion, a 7% increase compared to last year. Thanks to the strong sales of Keytruda (K drug) and its cervical cancer vaccine, Merck's pharmaceutical revenue reached $57.4 billion. Merck has had the largest R&D investment among pharmaceutical giants in the past decade, but its innovation efficiency has been less than ideal. Its product line is highly reliant on Keytruda and the cervical cancer vaccine, which is a major reason why its market value isn't as outstanding as other giants in the pharmaceutical industry.
Total Revenue: $64.2 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $57.4 billion, Net Profit: $17.1 billion, R&D Investment: $17.9 billion, Market Value: $220.8 billion
Johnson & Johnson has been one of the fastest-growing pharmaceutical giants in the past decade. In 2024, total revenue reached $88.8 billion, an increase of 4.3% year-on-year, with pharmaceutical and medical device sales at $56.964 billion and $31.857 billion, respectively, a growth of 4% and 5.8%. In the past year, Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical business did not engage in large-scale mergers, and the immunosuppressant market has become saturated. Although Ustekinumab achieved $10.4 billion in revenue, it saw a 4.6% year-on-year decline. The medical device business saw nearly 6% growth, but it was driven by large-scale mergers.
Total Revenue: $88.8 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $57.0 billion, Net Profit: $14.1 billion, R&D Investment: $17.2 billion, Market Value: $368.7 billion
On January 31, AbbVie announced its 2024 performance, with total annual revenue of $56.334 billion, a 3.7% increase from the previous year. Although Humira's sales dropped by 37.6% to $8.993 billion due to biosimilar competition, the new products Skyrizi (Risankizumab) and Rinvoq (Upadacitinib) performed very well, with sales growth of 50.9% and 50.4%, respectively, reaching $11.718 billion and $5.971 billion. These two major products not only offset the decline in Humira sales but also led to a slight increase in business revenue. In addition, botulinum toxin is also a major revenue driver for AbbVie, with annual sales exceeding $6 billion.
Total Revenue: $56.3 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $56.3 billion, Net Profit: $4.3 billion, R&D Investment: $12.8 billion, Market Value: $336.8 billion
Although Pfizer has held the title of the world's largest pharmaceutical giant for several consecutive years, it excels in mergers rather than innovation. Due to its low innovation efficiency, despite having over $60 billion in revenue, Pfizer's market value is only $150 billion, placing it lower among the top 10 pharmaceutical giants. Pfizer's 2024 revenue reached $63.6 billion, a 7% increase year-on-year. Thanks to the boost from the thyroid amyloid-like drug Vyndaqel, Apixaban, and its COVID-19 drugs, pharmaceutical sales increased by 6% to $53.8 billion.
Total Revenue: $63.6 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $53.8 billion, Net Profit: $8.0 billion, R&D Investment: $10.8 billion, Market Value: $145.9 billion
Roche's total revenue for 2024 reached CHF 62.4 billion (approximately $70.9 billion), with pharmaceutical and diagnostics sales of CHF 46.2 billion (approximately $52.5 billion) and CHF 14.3 billion (approximately $16.3 billion), respectively. These two major business sectors saw year-on-year growth of 8.2% and 3.5%, driving total revenue growth of 7.0%. Despite the patent cliffs for Herceptin, Rituxan, and Avastin, Roche's sales have recovered with the success of new products.
Total Revenue: $70.9 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $52.5 billion, Net Profit: $10.4 billion, R&D Investment: $17.4 billion, Market Value: $255.3 billion
On February 6, UK pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca announced its 2024 performance, with total revenue of $54.073 billion, a strong 18% year-on-year growth. Net sales of its products reached $50.938 billion, a 16% increase, and after-tax profit was $7.041 billion, an 18% growth. AstraZeneca has successfully transformed over the past decade, nearly doubling its revenue and market value.
Total Revenue: $54.1 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $50.9 billion, Net Profit: $7.0 billion, R&D Investment: $13.6 billion, Market Value: $223.3 billion
On February 3, Novartis released its 2024 financial report, with total revenue of $51.722 billion, an 11% year-on-year increase. Thanks to products like Kymriah, Novartis' pharmaceutical sales reached $50.3 billion, and despite divesting Sandoz, revenue did not significantly decline.
Total Revenue: $51.7 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $50.3 billion, Net Profit: $11.9 billion, R&D Investment: $10.0 billion, Market Value: $212.6 billion
Bristol-Myers Squibb announced its 2024 performance on February 6, reporting total revenue of $48.3 billion, a 7% year-on-year increase. The company has successfully transformed from a sales-driven company into a technology-driven one, launching multiple immune checkpoint inhibitors. Due to the sales of these products and Apixaban, it has rebounded. Its pharmaceutical sales in 2024 reached $46.8 billion, a 7% growth.
Total Revenue: $48.3 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $46.8 billion, Net Profit: -$8.9 billion, R&D Investment: $11.2 billion, Market Value: $115.3 billion
Eli Lilly announced its 2024 performance on February 6, with total revenue of $45.043 billion, a 32% year-on-year increase, and net profit of $10.59 billion, a 102% increase. Eli Lilly's outstanding performance was mainly driven by the sales of Tirzepatide, with the diabetes version selling $11.54 billion and the weight-loss version $4.93 billion, totaling $16.47 billion. Eli Lilly is the pharmaceutical company with the highest market value globally, thanks to its rich R&D pipeline, including GLP-1, Alzheimer's Disease (AD), and Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). Despite its debt rate exceeding 80%, its stock price has repeatedly hit new highs.
Total Revenue: $45.0 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $45.0 billion, Net Profit: $10.6 billion, R&D Investment: $11.0 billion, Market Value: $833.8 billion
On January 30, Sanofi announced its 2024 performance, with total revenue growing by 8.6% year-on-year to €41.081 billion (approximately $44.5 billion). Sanofi has been significantly impacted by patent cliffs in recent years, and its performance has been primarily driven by Dupixent (Dupilumab). With the expansion of indications, Dupixent's sales have risen, growing 22% year-on-year to €13.072 billion (approximately $14.1 billion). Notably, Sanofi divested its consumer health business last year and became a pure pharmaceutical company.
Total Revenue: $44.5 billion, Pharmaceutical Sales: $44.5 billion, Net Profit: $6.3 billion, R&D Investment: $8.0 billion, Market Value: $13.6 billion
On February 5, Novo Nordisk announced its 2024 annual report, with total revenue of 290.4 billion Danish Krone (approximately $42.13 billion), a 25% increase year-on-year. Ten years ago, Novo Nordisk was a medium-sized company, but with the explosion of GLP-1, its revenue has doubled in just ten years. Semaglutide, its most lucrative product, achieved $29.28 billion in sales, second only to Keytruda ($29.5 billion), making it the second-best-selling drug globally.
Total Revenue: $42.1 billion, Net Profit: $14.7 billion, R&D Investment: $7.0 billion, Market Value: $379.0 billion
GlaxoSmithKline is an established British giant. Before 2020, the company focused on consumer health, but after a new leadership took over, it drove the company's transformation from a marketing-driven company to a technology-driven one, divesting the consumer health business and restructuring its oncology pipeline. In 2024, total revenue reached ￡31.4 billion (approximately $40.1 billion), a 3.6% year-on-year increase. However, due to heavy debt (the average asset-liability ratio in the past three years has been over 80%), GSK's transformation has been difficult.
Total Revenue: $40.1 billion, Net Profit: $3.8 billion, R&D Investment: $8.2 billion, Market Value: $74.9 billion
