Top 50 global pharmaceutical and biotech companies by R&D intensity in 2023

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 Allogene Therapeutics with some 256 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 2023, Swiss company Novartis spent around 11.4 billion U.S. dollars on R&D and had revenues of 45.5 billion U.S. dollars. This resulted in an R&D intensity for the year of around 25 percent.

R&D holds the key

Discovering innovative, life-changing medicines can require substantial investment. In 2023, the global pharmaceutical industry spent approximately 300 billion U.S. dollars on R&D, and forecasts predict an annual expenditure of over 360 billion U.S. dollars by 2030. All the big pharma companies are expected to continue investing significant amounts on R&D projects in the future.