Top 50 global pharmaceutical and biotech companies by R&D intensity in 2022

The bio-/pharmaceutical industry is one of the most research-driven in the world, and its high R&D intensity has long been recognized. This list consists of many smaller companies that have high research costs but low sales revenues. This results in enormously high intensity rates, like the one of Bellus Health with 365 thousand percent.

What is R&D intensity?

R&D intensity is calculated by taking a company’s R&D expenditure and dividing that figure by its sales. For smaller companies, the investment can be a very high proportion of its sales. However, established larger companies can recoup their R&D investment through sales income. In 2022, Swiss company Novartis spent around 10 billion U.S. dollars on R&D and had net sales of 50.5 billion U.S. dollars. This resulted in an R&D intensity for the year of around 20 percent.

R&D holds the key

Discovering innovative, life-changing medicines can require substantial investment. In 2022, the global pharmaceutical industry spent approximately 244 billion U.S. dollars on R&D, and forecasts predict an annual expenditure of over 300 billion U.S. dollars by 2028. All of the big pharma companies are expected to continue investing significant amounts on R&D projects in the future.