Last year, GEN published a list of the top 25 biotech companies. So, who would make the list this year? Find out by checking out this updated list of 25 biotech companies ranked by their market capitalization for the latest quarter that they furnished figures on their numbers of outstanding shares.
Overall, the past year has been mostly very good to biotechs where market cap is concerned, the result of a stock market surge that has not only lifted prices well into double-digits for most of the companies on the list, but also finally jumpstarted the market for initial public offerings after several years of spinning its wheels.
Indeed, five of the companies saw their market cap more than double, as investors primarily rewarded companies that brought new drugs through trials and FDA review, to market: BioMarin Pharmaceutical, Isis Pharmaceuticals, Onxy Pharmaceuticals, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and especially Gilead Sciences, which nearly tripled its market cap after spending recent months integrating Pharmasset and growing its strong HIV portfolio with approvals last year for the combination drug Stribild (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), as well as and the first drug indicated for preventing the AIDS virus, the combo treatment Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate).
Only two of the top 25 companies on this list (Teva and Elan) saw their share prices decline, in each case following unique challenges that had many of the same biotech investors heading for the proverbial exits.
#25. Isis Pharmaceuticals
2013 Market Cap: $2.324 billion (5/2: 103,780,421 shares * price $22.39)
2012 Market Cap: $803.473 million (5/3: 100,183,683 shares * price $8.02)
% Change: 189.2%
Position on 2012 List: Not ranked
#24. Ipsen Group
2013 Market Cap: $2.889 billion (3/1: 84,100,253 shares * price €26.24)1
2012 Market Cap: $2.230 billion (3/1: 84,226,573 shares * price €20.26)1
% Change: 29.6%
Position on 2012 List: Not ranked
#23. United Therapeutics
2013 Market Cap: $2.966 billion (4/18: 49,707,574 shares * price $59.67)
2012 Market Cap: $2.260 billion (4/20: 53,685,360 shares * price $42.09)
% Change: 31.2%
Position on 2012 List: Not ranked
#22. Cubist Pharmaceuticals
2013 Market Cap: $3.059 billion (4/22: 65,206,393 shares * price $46.91)
2012 Market Cap: $2.668 billion (4/19: 63,337,315 shares * price $42.13)
% Change: 14.7%
Position on 2012 List: Not ranked
#21. Ariad Pharmaceuticals
2013 Market Cap: $3.300 billion (4/30: 184,690,546 shares * price $17.87)
2012 Market Cap: $2.701 billion (4/30: 165,728,859 shares * price $16.30)
% Change: 22.2%
Position on 2012 List: #24
#20. Alkermes
2013 Market Cap: $4.011 billion (5/8: 134,380,999 shares * price $29.85)
2012 Market Cap: $2.356 billion (5/11: 130,241,192 shares * price $18.09)
% Change: 70.2%
Position on 2012 List: Not ranked
#19. Seattle Genetics
2013 Market Cap: $4.390 billion (5/2: 121,265,608 shares * price $36.20)
2012 Market Cap: $2.316 billion (5/2: 117,051,559 shares * price $19.79)
% Change: 89.6%
Position on 2012 List: #25
#18. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories
2013 Market Cap: $5.014 billion (3/31: 169,836,475 shares * price Rs. 1766.50 on 3/29)1,2
2012 Market Cap: $5.001 billion (3/31: 169,560,346 shares * price Rs. 1764.75 on 3/30)1,2
% Change: 0.3%
Position on 2012 List: #17
#17. Onyx Pharmaceuticals
2013 Market Cap: $6.580 billion (5/3: 72,738,263 shares * price $90.46)
2012 Market Cap: $3.010 billion (4/27: 64,369,185 shares * price $46.76)
% Change: 118.6%
Position on 2012 List: #19
#16. Actelion
2013 Market Cap: $6.885 billion (3/31: 126.7 million shares * price CHF 51.55)1,3
2012 Market Cap: $4.548 billion (3/31: 130.7 million shares * price CHF 33.00)1,3
% Change: 51.4%
Position on 2012 List: #20
#15. Elan
2013 Market Cap: $7.041 billion (3/31: about 596.7 million shares * price $11.80 on 3/28)4,5
2012 Market Cap: $8.868 billion (3/31: about 590.8 million shares * price $15.01 on 3/30)4,5
% Change: -20.6%
Position on 2012 List: #15
#14. BioMarin Pharmaceutical
2013 Market Cap: $9.097 billion (4/19: 139,010,175 shares * price $65.44)
2012 Market Cap: $3.788 billion (4/13: 115,700,983 shares * price $32.74)
% Change: 140.2%
Position on 2012 List: #16
#13. UCB
2013 Market Cap: $11.650 billion (3/31: 179.3 million shares * price €49.80 on 3/29)1,6
2012 Market Cap: $7.449 billion (3/31: 176.4 million shares * price €32.35 on 3/30)1,6
% Change: 56.4%
Position on 2012 List: #14
#12. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
2013 Market Cap: $17.495 billion (4/26: 221,400,864 shares * price $79.02)
2012 Market Cap: $8.151 billion (4/27: 211,061,148 shares * price $38.62)
% Change: 114.6%
Position on 2012 List: #11
#11. Shire
2013 Market Cap: $17.252 billion (4/29: 562,826,237 shares * price £20.17)
2012 Market Cap: $17.205 billion (4/27: 562,532,330 shares * price £20.13 on 4/26)
% Change: 0.3%
Position on 2012 List: Not on list
#10. Alexion
2013 Market Cap: $17.893 billion (4/23: 195,146,634 shares * price $91.69)
2012 Market Cap: $17.152 billion (4/20: 186,924,017 shares * price $91.76)
% Change: 4.3%
Position on 2012 List: #10
#9. Regeneron
2013 Market Cap: $20.269 billion (4/17: 95,122,401 shares * price $213.08)7
2012 Market Cap: $11.894 billion (4/11: 97,966,145 shares * price $121.41)7
% Change: 70.4%
Position on 2012 List: #12
#8. CSL
2013 Market Cap: $27.440 billion (6/30: A$30.042 billion) (dd)1,8
2012 Market Cap: $18.359 billion (6/30: A$20.099 billion) (dd)1,8
% Change: 49.5%
Position on 2012 List: #9
#7. Merck KGaA
2013 Market Cap: $33.364 billion (3/31: 217,388,939 shares * price €117.70 on 3/29)4
2012 Market Cap: $22.319 billion (3/31: 217,388,939 shares * price €78.72 on 3/30)4
% Change: 49.5%
Position on 2012 List: #8
#6. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
2013 Market Cap: $33.768 billion (3/31: About 851 million shares * price $39.68 on 3/28)4,9
2012 Market Cap: $39.292 billion (3/31: About 872 million shares * price $45.06 on 3/30)4,9
% Change: -14.1%
Position on 2012 List: #5
#5. Biogen Idec
2013 Market Cap: $47.157 billion (4/18: 237,374,815 shares * price $198.66)
2012 Market Cap: $31.582 billion (5/1: 239,562,899 shares * price $131.83)
% Change: 49.3%
Position on 2012 List: #4
#4. Celgene
2013 Market Cap: $52.557 billion (4/23: 417,122,477 shares * price $126.00)
2012 Market Cap: $34.319 billion (4/25: 440,497,817 shares * price $77.91)
% Change: 53.1%
Position on 2012 List: #7
#3. Gilead Sciences
2013 Market Cap: $78.373 billion (4/26: 1,525,355,825 shares * price $51.38)
2012 Market Cap: $19.751 billion (4/27: 757,321,824 shares * price $26.08)
% Change: 296.8%
Position on 2012 List: #3
#2. Amgen
2013 Market Cap: $78.695 billion (4/24: 749,976,556 shares * price $104.93)
2012 Market Cap: $55.054 billion (4/26: 777,707,877 shares * price $70.79)
% Change: 42.9%
Position on 2012 List: #2
#1. Novo Nordisk
2013 Market Cap: $85.335 billion (7/2: 535.0 million shares * price DKK 911.50)1,10
2012 Market Cap: $62.809 billion (7/2: 418.0 million shares * price DKK 859.00)1,10
% Change: 35.9%
Position on 2012 List: #1
Market cap is calculated by multiplying the number of outstanding shares by the share price. U.S. companies generally report their numbers of outstanding shares in their 10-Q quarterly or 10-K annual earnings filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Companies based outside the U.S. either disclose market cap directly, or their numbers of shares “in issue” or “in free issue” in half-year and full-year results disclosures. For all companies, closing share prices as of the dates of their outstanding-shares figures can be found through any of several free stock information websites. Figures of non-U.S. companies were converted to U.S. dollars from various currencies.
Notes:
1 Figures converted to U.S. dollars via www.xe.com on July 11, 2013
2 Market cap figures calculated as of March 31, the end of the company’s fiscal year, since outstanding shares figures were published in company’s annual report but not in Q1 results materials.
3 First-quarter figures for numbers of outstanding shares in Q1 2013 and Q1 2012 were rounded to the nearest tenth and furnished by the company in financial reports.
4 Prices are those at close of the trading day preceding March 31, since that day fell on a weekend during both 2013 and 2012.
5 First-quarter figures supplied by company for numbers of outstanding shares in Q1 2013 and Q1 2012 were rounded to the nearest tenth and included within press releases.
6 First-quarter figures supplied by company for numbers of weighted average shares outstanding in Q1 2013 and Q1 2012 were rounded to the nearest tenth and included within press releases.
7 2013 share count combines 95,908,088 shares of common stock and 2,058,057 shares of Class A stock; 2012 share count combines 93,032,889 shares of common stock and 2,089,512 shares of Class A stock.
8 Market capitalization figures included in the Top 40 with Market Capitalization list published July 2 by the Australian publication Biotech Daily. CSL furnishes figures on number of shares in its annual reports, the latest of which covers the 2011–12 fiscal year.
9 First-quarter figures supplied by company for numbers of outstanding shares in Q1 2013 and Q1 2012 were rounded to the nearest whole number and included within press releases.
10 Share price and number of shares data is available on the historic stock information section of company’s website, which rounds off total number of shares to the nearest whole number.
