Top 22 R&D Spenders among Tool and Technologies Companies

Alex Philippidis Senior News Editor Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

Find out how much money goes into developing the instruments you use for research.

A few weeks ago, GEN presented you with a list of the top 20 biopharma R&D spenders. However, drug discovery is only part of the R&D story; what about the companies that make the technology that makes drug discovery possible? Following is a list of top 25 life sciences tools and technologies providers—including both companies and divisions of broader corporate giants—as ranked by their R&D spending for 2012. Listings include R&D spending for 2012 and 2011, the percentage difference between the two years, the percentage of sales for both years, and 2008 R&D spending and percentage of sales.

#22. Fluidigm

2012 R&D spending: $16.602 million

2011 R&D spending: $13.936 million

% Change: 19.1%

2012 percentage of revenues: 31.7%

2011 percentage of revenues: 32.5%

#21. Eppendorf International

2012 R&D spending: $35.233 million (€27.5 million)^1,2

2011 R&D spending: $31.823 million (€24.838 million)²

% Change: 10.7%

2012 percentage of sales: 5.3%

2011 percentage of sales: 5.2%

#20. Sartorius Stedim Biotech

2012 R&D spending: $39.683 million (€30.972 million)³

2011 R&D spending: $36.616 million (€28.580 million)³

% Change: 8.4%

2012 percentage of sales revenue: 5.7%

2011 percentage of sales revenue: 6.0%

#19. Sequenom

2012 R&D spending: $54.115 million

2011 R&D spending: $53.585 million

% Change: 1.0%

2012 percentage of revenues: 60.3%

2011 percentage of revenues: 95.8%

#18. Affymetrix

2012 R&D spending: $57.881 million

2011 R&D spending: $63.591 million

% Change: -9.0%

2012 percentage of revenues: 19.6%

2011 percentage of revenues: 23.8%

#17. Sigma-Aldrich

2012 R&D spending: $69 million

2011 R&D spending: $72 million

% Change: 4.2%

2012 percentage of revenues: 2.6%

2011 percentage of revenues: 2.9%

#16. Cepheid

2012 R&D spending: $71.673 million

2011 R&D spending: $59.362 million

% Change: 20.7

2012 percentage of revenues: 21.6%

2011 percentage of revenues: 21.4%

#15. Waters

2012 R&D spending: $96.004 million

2011 R&D spending: $92.347 million

% Change: 4.0%

2012 percentage of net sales: 5.2%

2011 percentage of net sales: 5.0%

#14. Mettler-Toledo International

2012 R&D spending: $112.530 million

2011 R&D spending: $116.139 million

% Change: -3.1%

2012 percentage of net sales: 4.8%

2011 percentage of net sales: 5.0%

#13. Qiagen

2012 R&D spending: $122.476 million

2011 R&D spending: $130.636 million

% Change: -6.2%

2012 percentage of net sales: 9.8%

2011 percentage of net sales: 11.2%

#12. PerkinElmer

2012 R&D spending: $132.639 million

2011 R&D spending: $115.821 million

% Change: 14.5%

2012 percentage of revenues: 6.3%

2011 percentage of revenues: 6.0%

#11. Danaher Life Sciences & Diagnostics⁴

2012 R&D spending: $418 million

2011 R&D spending: $341 million

% Change: 22.6%

2012 percentage of sales: 6.5%

2011 percentage of sales: 7.3%

#10. Bruker

2012 R&D spending: $195.3 million

2011 R&D spending: $177.2 million

% Change: 10.2%

2012 percentage of revenues: 10.9%

2011 percentage of revenues: 10.7%

#9. Merck Millipore⁵

2012 R&D spending: $212.890 million (€166.1 million)⁶

2011 R&D spending: $170.978 million (€133.4 million)^6,7

% Change: 24.5%

2012 percentage of sales: 6.4%

2011 percentage of sales: 5.6%

#8. Bio-Rad Laboratories

2012 R&D spending: $214.040 million

2011 R&D spending: $186.439 million

% Change: 14.8%

2012 percentage of net sales: 10.3%

2011 percentage of net sales: 9.0%

#7. Illumina

2012 R&D spending: $231.025 million

2011 R&D spending: $196.913 million

% Change: 17.3%

2012 percentage of revenues: 20.1%

2011 percentage of revenues: 18.7%

#6. Thermo Fisher Scientific

2012 R&D spending: $376.4 million

2011 R&D spending: $340.2 million

% Change: 10.6%

2012 percentage of revenues: 3.0%

2011 percentage of revenues: 2.9%

#5. Life Technologies

2012 R&D spending: $341.892 million

2011 R&D spending: $377.924 million

% Change: -9.5%

2012 percentage of revenues: 9.0%

2011 percentage of revenues: 10.0%

#4. Becton Dickinson (BD)

2012 R&D spending: $471.755 million⁸

2011 R&D spending: $469.517 million⁸

% Change: 0.5%

2012 percentage of revenues: 6.1%

2011 percentage of revenues: 6.2%

#3. Agilent Technologies

2012 R&D spending: $668 million⁹

2011 R&D spending: $649 million⁹

% Change: 2.9%

2012 percentage of net revenues: 9.7%

2011 percentage of net revenues: 9.5%

#2. GE Healthcare¹⁰

2012 R&D spending: Approx. $1 billion¹¹

2011 R&D spending: Approx. $1 billion¹¹

% Change: No change

2012 percentage of revenues: about 5.5%

2011 percentage of revenues: about 5.5%

#1. Roche – Diagnostics Division¹²

2012 R&D spending: $1.078 billion (CHF 1.023 billion)¹³

2011 R&D spending: $978.914 million (CHF 929 million)¹³

% Change: 10.1%

2012 percentage of sales: 10.0%

2011 percentage of sales: 9.5%

Figures were disclosed by the companies in forms 10-K or 20-F, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); corporate annual reports; quarterly results press releases, and S-1 Securities Registration Statements also filed with the SEC. Where applicable, figures were converted to U.S. dollars from other currencies.

Notes:
¹ R&D spending figures converted to USD via XE (www.xe.com) on March 29, 2013.
² Figure reported to one decimal place in March 25 press release announcing selected 2012 results.
³ R&D spending figures converted to USD via XE (www.xe.com) on March 29, 2013.
⁴ Life Sciences & Diagnostics is the segment of Danaher Corp. that provides tools for biopharma research. Danaher’s life sciences business offer research and clinical tools used by scientists to study cells and cell components. Danaher’s diagnostics businesses offer analytical instruments, reagents, consumables, software and services used by hospitals, physician’s offices, reference laboratories and other critical care settings.
⁵ Merck Millipore is the division of Merck KGaA that supplies products and services for the life science industry. Key customer groups include research and analytical laboratories in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry or in academic institutions, and manufacturers of large and small molecule drugs.
⁶ R&D spending figures converted to USD via XE (www.xe.com) on March 29, 2013.
⁷ Figure reduced from €134.5 million in 2011 annual report following shift of €1.1 billion for legal, financial and organizational functions to administration expenses.
⁸ BD’s fiscal years encompass the 12 months ending September 30.
⁹ Agilent’s fiscal years encompass the 12 months ending October 31.
¹⁰ Includes GE’s drug discovery and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies businesses, as well as businesses focused on medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, and patient monitoring systems.
¹¹ Figures furnished by company to GEN. The figures vary from two previously published amounts. Last year, FierceMedicalDevices reported that the company’s 2011 R&D budget was $1.3 billion. However, a GE Healthcare presentation from the 4th University Forum in Brussels (March 22, 2011) stated that company R&D spending was “$1.5 billion,” though it was not stated if the figure covered 2011 or 2010.
¹² Includes Roche’s Professional Diagnostics, Tissue Diagnostics, Diabetes Care, and Applied Science businesses.
¹³ R&D spending figures converted to USD via XE (www.xe.com) on March 29, 2013.