The biotechnology industry consists of hundreds of companies that combine biology and technology to develop drugs and related products to treat diseases and medical conditions. today’s biotechnology the industry includes companies that make medical devices and diagnostics, biofuels, biomaterials, pollution control, and more.

Among the largest companies in the field are pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk and Moderna. These companies generally focus on creating and testing new medicinal compounds for medical use and must go through lengthy testing and approval processes for their products. That means investors often have to wait months or even years to find out whether a potential drug therapy is viable or profitable.

Despite the many challenges biotech companies face, several businesses have made it to the top of the list. Below we look at the top 10 as measured by trailing 12-month (TTM) returns. This list is limited to publicly traded companies in the US or Canada, either directly or through an ADR. Some foreign companies may report semi-annually and may have longer delays. Figures current as of Q1 2023 are likely to change based on markets and conditions.

• Revenue (TTM): $24.31 billion
• Net income (TTM): $7.68 billion
• Market cap: $293.94 billion
• Total return in 1 year: 23.38%
• Exchange: New York Stock Exchange

Novo Nordisk is a multinational biotechnology company headquartered in Denmark with manufacturing facilities in seven countries and subsidiaries or offices in 16 countries. The company’s primary focus is diabetes care, hemophilia care, growth hormone therapy, and hormone replacement therapy. The company makes several drugs under different brand names, including Levemir, NovoLog, Novolin R, NovoSeven, NovoEight and Victoza.

• Revenue (TTM): $20.68 billion
• Net income (TTM): $11.76 billion
• Market cap: $72.95 billion
• Total return in 1 year: -35.59%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

modern based in Cambridge, MA. It entered the commercial register in 2010, making it one of the youngest biotech firms on the list. The company develops drugs based on messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNA), the single-stranded molecule that creates life-sustaining proteins. Moderna made headlines after developing an mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine in 2020.

Moderna focuses its mRNA drugs on autoimmune disorders, rare and infectious diseases and immuno-oncology.

• Revenue (TTM): $20.37 billion
• Net income (TTM): $11.35 billion
• Market cap: $40.91 billion
• Total return in 1 year: -40.54%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

BioNTech is based in Mainz, Germany. It was founded in 2008 by Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Turci, a husband and wife team who wanted to tailor cancer treatment to individual patients. In 2020, it partnered with Pfizer to develop the first vaccine against COVID-19.

• Revenue (TTM): $13.71 billion
• Net income (TTM): $5.37 billion
• Market cap: $78.53 billion
• Total return in 1 year: 16.44%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Biopharmaceutical company Regeneron develops and markets medicines for patients with eye diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, allergic and inflammatory problems and infectious diseases. The company aims to conduct one of the largest gene sequencing operations worldwide through its Regeneron Genetic Center.

• Revenue (TTM): $8.7 billion
• Net income (TTM): $3.27 billion
• Market cap: $74.85 billion
• Total return in 1 year: 35.91%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Biopharmaceutical company Vertex focuses on developing and marketing medicines for patients with cancer, cystic fibrosis, autoimmune diseases, neurological disorders and others.

• Revenue (TTM): $3.58 billion
• Net Income (TTM): -$18.69 million
• Market cap: $9.85 billion
• Total return in 1 year: 24.81%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, an Irish biopharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes medicinal products for the treatment of problems related to narcolepsy, psychiatry, pain management and oncology.

• Revenue (TTM): $3.33 billion
• Net income (TTM): $876.05 million
• Market cap: $17.93 billion
• Total return in 1 year: 10.56%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Incyte is a biopharmaceutical company focused primarily on small molecule drugs for use in oncology and is responsible for the discovery, development and marketing of drug therapies. The company is best known for its drug Jakafi, which treats myelofibrosis.

• Revenue (TTM): $2.39 billion
• Net income (TTM): -$1.32 billion
• Market cap: $810.16 million
• Total return in 1 year: -95.25%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Novavax, based in Gaithersburg, MD, was founded in 1987. It is a biotechnology company focused exclusively on developing vaccines to fight infectious diseases while advancing access to life-saving vaccines worldwide.

• Revenue (TTM): $2.37 billion
• Net income (TTM): $1.14 billion
• Market cap: $3.34 billion
• 1 Year Total Return: -53.32%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

Focused on developing infectious disease treatments, Vir has one treatment for COVID-19, Sotrovimab, and ten other therapies in development.

• Revenue (TTM): $2.01 billion
• Net income (TTM): $83.91 million
• Market cap: $19.81 billion
• Total return in 1 year: 23.28%
• Exchange: Nasdaq

BioMarin was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in San Rafael, CA. It has 3,000 employees and focuses on developing treatments for genetic disorders such as phenylketonuria (PKU), CLN2 disease, MPS (IVA, VA, I) and achondroplasia.

Bottom Line

Biotechnology companies are responsible for using technology to improve biological studies and developments to enrich our lives. You see the results of their efforts in medicines, vaccines, agricultural products, medical devices and many other products that improve the way we live and treat the planet.