Biotech companies can have an impact and influence in shaping their businesses, industry, and stakeholders they engage with, be it patients, physicians, providers, payers, or policymakers. Companies have been greatly valued for life-changing innovations developed during and in response to a global public health emergency. Others brought about potentially disruptive innovations in the drug development business model itself. We explore how companies create lasting impact – from being most admired from the outside, looking in at its innovations, accomplishments, and social responsibility, to being applauded by its own for providing the best employee experience.
The EY Beyond Borders: Biotechnology Report 2022 examined the U.S. and European biotech industry’s performance and reported that the sector performed exceptionally well in 2021, in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the commercial leaders, which generated 86% of the industry’s total revenue, two companies generated 22%. BioNTech and Moderna, the companies that pioneered the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines, joined the ranks of commercial leaders in 2020 and, by 2021, generated over US$40 billion in revenues combined. The EY report contends that this growth will continue and projects that spending on vaccines and therapeutics associated with COVID-19 will double by 2026.
Five Influential Biotech Companies
Between the various sectors of the COVID-19 market, biopharmaceutical new technologies, market cap, and clinical and technical innovation, the companies listed below are the world’s most admired biotechnology (biotech) companies.
1. BioNTech
BioNTech is an immunotherapy company founded in 2008 by scientists and physicians working on translating science into survival by combining fundamental research and operational excellence. It is committed to facilitating equitable access to its medicines. In 2020, BioNTech leveraged its mRNA technology to develop Comirnaty, the first mRNA drug approved for human use with two claims of being the fastest. First, Comirnaty is the fastest vaccine developed against a new pathogen in the history of medicine, and second, it is the fastest-selling drug in pharma history. Comirnaty went from US$150 million in sales in 2020 to US$36.9 billion in sales the following year. BioNTech has developed collaborations with Genmab, Sanofi, Genentech, Regeneron, Genevant, Fosun Pharma, and Pfizer and has a presence in Singapore, Shanghai, Taiwan, and Melbourne. BioNTech is expanding its global footprint by establishing mRNA vaccine facilities in Singapore and Rwanda and plans to set up a clinical trial hub in Taiwan.
2. Moderna, Inc.
Moderna, a small Cambridge-based biotech, was founded in 2010 and has since worked on building a leading mRNA technology platform. It has transformed from a research-stage company advancing programs in the field of mRNA to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for rapid clinical and commercial production at scale. Moderna’s mission is to deliver the most significant possible impact to people through mRNA medicines. It has more than 3,900 employees. Like BioNTech, Moderna received emergency use authorization in December 2020 and achieved US$17.7 billion in vaccine sales in 2021. In 2022, Moderna ranked first in BioSpace’s 2023 Best Places to Work in Biopharma report.
3. Johnson & Johnson (J&J)
Johnson & Johnson is the most broadly based healthcare company globally, with a global footprint and a history of over 135 years. J&J posted US$94.9 billion in revenue, US$19.8 billion in profits, and a market capitalization of US$477.4 billion as of April 20, 2022. The company is heavily involved and invested in enabling complex clinical care delivery solutions. The 2022 Forbes Global 2000 published in May 2022 ranked the world’s largest public companies, with J&J being the highest-ranked pharmaceutical company. In the same year, J&J was listed in Fortune’s Top 50 All-Star on its World’s Most Admired Companies list and topped the pharmaceutical industry list for its 9th consecutive year. Companies were rated on nine criteria: investment value, quality of the organization’s management and products, social responsibility, and the ability to attract talent. In the 2022 Access to Medicine Index, which measures a company’s effort to expand access to medicines worldwide, J&J ranked second globally. Of the more than 140,000 J&J employees across the globe, 40,000 are part of Janssen, the pharmaceutical company of J&J.
4. BridgeBio Pharma
BridgeBio Pharma. Founded in 2015 to identify and advance transformative medicines that target well-characterized genetic diseases, BridgeBio Pharma is among Fast Company’s top 10 most innovative companies of 2022. Selected for their role in reshaping their businesses and industries, companies that made the list created the most significant impact with their innovative medical devices, medicines and therapeutics, and consumer goods. BridgeBio Pharma is unique as it also successfully innovated its drug development business model by applying a “portfolio model.” This emerging model for biotech enables new ways to invest, motivate teams, and shape the innovation pipeline. Breaking away from the prevailing model of focusing on a single technology or biological pathway, portfolio managers at BridgeBio control a set of companies across multiple technologies and disease areas. The portfolio manager leverages expertise, e.g., venture creation, R&D, manufacturing, or commercial management, to start a suite of subsidiaries, each dedicated to an individual drug program. Portfolio managers make investment decisions and manage portfolio companies. In 2021, BridgeBio Pharma attained two Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for new drugs, making it the smallest drugmaker to earn more than one FDA approval that year. It was in good company as the only other companies which received more than one approval were Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Janssen Pharmaceutical.
5. AbbVie
In 2022, AbbVie rose to 5th place in the Forbes World’s Largest Healthcare Companies 2022 with a market value of US$273.8 billion. Although AbbVie had no COVID-19-related products, it ranked second in global sales in 2021. Fortune also recognized AbbVie as one of the Best Workplaces in Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals 2022 based on employee experience defined by high levels of trust, respect, credibility, fairness, pride, and camaraderie. In response to the survey, 83% of employees say it is a great workplace (vs. 57% of employees at a typical U.S.-based company). Most employees (89%) felt welcome when they joined the company. In comparison, 89% feel a sense of pride looking at what AbbVie has accomplished, and 92% feel good about how the company contributes to the community. Founded in 2013, AbbVie has 49,000 employees in 30 sites worldwide.
SUMMARY
The most influential biotech companies – from small to the largest – engage in clinical-development outsourcing for more efficient outcomes. They engage contract research organizations (CROs) for their expertise in navigating the complex landscape of drug development and regulatory pathways. Small CROs like Vial are flexible, adopt the latest in technology, and are able to customize solutions to meet the needs of sponsors, regardless of their size. To find out more about how the Vial CRO is reimagining clinical trials, visit us here.
