Leading pharmaceutical companies by global vaccine revenue 2021

GlaxoSmithKline generated approximately 9.3 billion U.S. dollars from vaccine sales in 2021, making it the sixth largest vaccine company in the world based on revenue. Before the pandemic and the appearance of COVID-19 vaccines, the British pharmaceutical giant used to be the global leader in vaccines.

Analyzing vaccine sales of leading companies

GlaxoSmithKline reported an annual revenue of 34.1 billion British pounds in 2021 – vaccine sales accounted for around 20 percent of that figure. Year-on-year sales of Shingrix, the company’s shingles vaccine, more than doubled to almost two billion British pounds in 2020. The leading vaccine of Merck & Co. is Gardasil/Gardasil 9, which can help in the prevention of certain cancers. The vaccine is one of Merck’s top-selling products and accounted for more than half of the company’s total vaccine sales. Pfizer generated vaccine sales of nearly 43 billion U.S. dollars in 2021, of course heavily boosted by its COVID-19 vaccine sales. The pneumococcal vaccine Prevnar 13/Prevenar 13 was the company’s second product based on revenue during that year.

The race for a coronavirus vaccine

Until recently, and despite growth in the global vaccine market, there were only four big pharma companies with substantial vaccine operations. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of vaccine research and development. Aided by government funding and partnerships, several smaller companies were among the first to enter the race to find vaccines and treatments for the disease. Biotech company Moderna, by applying its pioneering mRNA research to the problem, was among the first to bring a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine to the broader market.