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Drug giant Pfizer has dropped to second place behind Johnson & Johnson in a list of pharmaceutical companies ranked by total revenue, a study shows.
This means J&J has managed to shrug off competitive conditions in the pharmaceutical market, the research by Scrip Reports claims.
J&J has been insulated from the difficult performance of the sector as only 43% of its revenue comes from sales of pharmaceuticals, whereas Pfizer’s business is predominantly drug manufacturing.
Consequently, J&J has fared better than Pfizer after a tough 2006 for pharmaceutical firms caused by patent expiries and tighter healthcare budgets.
A stricter regulatory climate in the aftermath of the withdrawal of Vioxx® (rofecoxib) has also compounded problems for the industry.
The report also shows that, despite Bayer’s acquisition of Schering AG in October 2006 for $22bn, the firm dropped from fourth to fifth.
But Merck rose from 26th to 24th in the league table after its acquisition of Serono for $14bn in September last year.
And, while the world’s top 10 companies remain the same as in 2006, most have shuffled positions in the list.
Copyright © PA Business 2007
