Of the top 2,000 public companies in the world, 41 pharmaceutical companies are part of the list and the United States alone has 13 companies. The biggest drug companies of 2014 are led by Pfizer, followed by Novartis, with a combined total net profit of 97.8 billion.
| Global 2000 Rank | Company | Country | Sales | Profits | Assets | Market Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | Pfizer | United States | $52.7 B | $22 B | $172.1 B | $203.9 B |
| 54 | Novartis | Switzerland | $57.9 B | $9.2 B | $126.3 B | $227.4 B |
| 87 | Sanofi | France | $43.7 B | $4.9 B | $132.4 B | $137.1 B |
| 90 | Roche Holding | Switzerland | $50.5 B | $12 B | $69.9 B | $253.7 B |
| 99 | Merck & Co | United States | $44.1 B | $4.4 B | $105.6 B | $165.8 B |
| 116 | GlaxoSmithKline | United Kingdom | $41.4 B | $8.5 B | $69.7 B | $128.8 B |
| 183 | AstraZeneca | United Kingdom | $25.7 B | $2.6 B | $55.9 B | $82.3 B |
| 219 | Eli Lilly & Co | United States | $23.1 B | $4.7 B | $35.2 B | $65.9 B |
| 229 | Abbott Laboratories | United States | $21.8 B | $2.6 B | $43 B | $59.4 B |
| 243 | McKesson | United States | $130.1 B | $1.2 B | $36.5 B | $40.5 B |
| 254 | AbbVie | United States | $18.8 B | $4.1 B | $29.2 B | $82.8 B |
| 257 | Bristol-Myers Squibb | United States | $16.4 B | $2.6 B | $38.6 B | $85.9 B |
| 294 | Teva Pharmaceutical Inds | Israel | $20.3 B | $1.3 B | $47.5 B | $44.6 B |
| 348 | Takeda Pharmaceutical | Japan | $17 B | $1.1 B | $42.1 B | $37 B |
| 372 | Merck KGaA | Germany | $14.7 B | $1.6 B | $28.7 B | $36.3 B |
| 399 | Novo Nordisk | Denmark | $14.9 B | $4.5 B | $13 B | $119.6 B |
| 526 | Cardinal Health | United States | $96.7 B | $0.4 B | $25 B | $23.9 B |
| 527 | Otsuka Holding | Japan | $14.4 B | $1.8 B | $17.9 B | $16.1 B |
| 615 | Astellas Pharma | Japan | $11.7 B | $0.8 B | $14.9 B | $26.1 B |
| 674 | AmerisourceBergen | United States | $96.1 B | $0.3 B | $19.8 B | $15.1 B |
| 707 | Daiichi Sankyo | Japan | $10.9 B | $0.9 B | $17.3 B | $11.6 B |
| 753 | Allergan | United States | $6.3 B | $1.3 B | $10.6 B | $36.9 B |
| 816 | Mylan | United States | $7 B | $0.6 B | $15.2 B | $18.3 B |
| 858 | Actavis | Ireland | $8.7 B | $-0.8 B | $22.7 B | $36.5 B |
| 903 | Sinopharm Group | China | $27.1 B | $0.4 B | $17.4 B | $7.1 B |
| 921 | Valeant Pharmaceuticals | Canada | $5.8 B | $-0.9 B | $28 B | $44.6 B |
| 1041 | Shire | Ireland | $5 B | $0.7 B | $8.3 B | $29 B |
| 1275 | Eisai | Japan | $6 B | $0.4 B | $9.3 B | $10.8 B |
| 1293 | Sun Pharma Industries | India | $2.1 B | $0.5 B | $4.1 B | $19.9 B |
| 1330 | Zoetis | United States | $4.6 B | $0.5 B | $6.6 B | $14.7 B |
| 1332 | Medipal Holdings | Japan | $29.5 B | $0.2 B | $13.4 B | $3.6 B |
| 1383 | UCB | Belgium | $4.5 B | $0.3 B | $13.7 B | $15.3 B |
| 1407 | Perrigo | Ireland | $3.8 B | $0.3 B | $13.7 B | $20.8 B |
| 1434 | Alfresa Holdings | Japan | $25.2 B | $0.2 B | $11.6 B | $3.8 B |
| 1526 | Actelion | Switzerland | $1.9 B | $0.5 B | $3.4 B | $10.9 B |
| 1534 | Suzuken | Japan | $20 B | $0.2 B | $10.3 B | $3.5 B |
| 1595 | Forest Laboratories | United States | $3.4 B | $0.2 B | $9.1 B | $25.3 B |
| 1608 | Aspen Pharmacare Holdings | South Africa | $2.3 B | $0.4 B | $7.7 B | $12.1 B |
| 1684 | Shionogi & Co. | Japan | $3 B | $0.8 B | $5.9 B | $6.1 B |
| 1807 | Yunnan Baiyao Group | China | $2.6 B | $0.4 B | $2.1 B | $9.2 B |
| 1955 | Toho Holdings | Japan | $12.1 B | $0.1 B | $5.9 B | $1.6 B |
May 2014 forbes.com 2014
Pharmaceuticals is a high profit margin business. The cost of XANAX for example is $0.24, but the consumer price can go up to $136.79, that is a markup of 569,958%.
In the United States, there is no ceiling price prescription, and the price is protected by 20 year patent laws. Until the patent ends, generics that are often 80% cheaper, are not allowed to enter the market.
Researchers found that Big Pharma spends twice more money on Advertisements than they do on R&D. Big Pharma rarely conducts research themselves, they prefer to fund research done by universities and biotech companies. To create a wider market, Big Pharma often exaggerates a disease’s condition, and some companies even hire doctors to help market their drugs.
Sixteen years ago, Professor Irving Weissman discovered a treatment that could cure diabetes and breast cancer, but Big Pharma wasn’t interested because ongoing treatment such as insulin, testing strips, and meters are more profitable.
