According to Frost & Sullivan Chemicals Group, Oxford, United Kingdom, nearly 4,400 biotechnology companies were active globally in 2003: 1,850 (43%) in North America; 1,875 (43%) in Europe; 380 (9%) in Asia; and 200 (5%) in Australia. These companies cover the gamut from pure R&D participants to integrated manufacturers to contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) The USA leads with the largest number of registered biotechnology companies in the world (318) , followed by Europe (102).
Annual turnover (2002) of these companies has been $33 billion in the USA and only $12.8 billion in Europe. Some $20.5 billion had been allocated to research in the USA, compared with $7.6 billion in Europe (Adhikari, 2004). Ernst & Young – a consultancy firm – makes a difference between US companies which have medicines and the others. The former include pioneers such as Amgen, Inc., Genentech, Inc., Genzyme Corporation, Chiron Corp., Biogen, Inc. These five
companies have an annual turnover representing one-third of the sector’s total, i.e. $11.6 billion out of $33 billion; in addition, their product portfolio enables them, with respect to their turnover and stock value, to compete with the big pharmaceutical groups. For instance, Amgen, Inc., with a $75-billion market capitalization, is more important than Eli Lilly & Co., while Genentech, Inc.’s market capitalization is twice as big as that of Bayer AG (Mamou, 2004e).
In 2002, Amgen, Inc., had six products on the market with global revenues amounting to $4,991 million. With 11 products on the market and revenues worth $2,164 million,
Genentech, Inc., followed in second place. The remaining places in the top five were filled out by Serono SA (six products, $1,423 million), Biogen, Inc. (two products, $1,034 million) and Genzyme Corporation (five products, $858 million) [Adhikari, 2004].
Over the last decade, a clutch of companies has amassed significant profits from a relatively limited portfolio of drugs. There is, today, heightened recognition that lucrative opportunities await companies that can develop even a single live-saving biotechnology drug. For instance, Amgen, Inc.’s revenues increased by over 40% from 2001 to 2002 on the $2 billion Amgen made in 2002 from sales of Epogen and the $1.5 billion earned from the sales of Neupogen. Over $1 billion in sales of Rituxan – monoclonal antibody against cancer – in 2002 helped Genentech, Inc., record a 25% growth over its 2001 performance (Adhikari, 2004).
