The Biggest Biotech Companies

Biotechnology uses living organisms to develop cutting-edge medical treatments and drugs to treat diseases and ease human suffering. The biotech sciences include genetics, genetic engineering, gene therapy, applied immunology, and bioengineering. Companies that break ground in these areas may profit handsomely. Those that do not may fiscally suffer.

The difficulty of predicting which path such companies will take makes the biotech industry notoriously more volatile than the broader stock market. Consequently, investors willing to accept more risk for the promise of excessively higher returns may wish to diversify their equity portfolio with stable biotech stocks.

Key Takeaways

• Biotechnology companies use living organisms to create medical treatments and drugs to treat diseases.
• The largest biotech company by market capitalization is Novo Nordisk.
• You can invest in biotech companies directly by purchasing their stock or by purchasing shares of a biotech ETF.

The Biggest Biotech Stocks

The largest biotech companies by market capitalization currently listed on stock exchanges as of December 2024, are:

Biotech ETFs

Biotech stocks can rise or fall based on a host of company-specific factors, such as research announcements and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clinical trial results. Therefore, investors may wish to diversify their biotech exposure by allocating portions of their portfolios to biotech mutual funds or biotech exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI), iShares Biotechnology (IBB), VanEck Biotech ETF (BBH) and Invesco Biotechnology & Genome ETF (PBE).

What Are the Top 5 Biggest Pharma?

Eli Lily, Novo Nordisk, Johnson & Johnson, Abbvie, and Merck generally remain among the top five pharmaceutical companies by market cap.

What Country Is #1 in Biotechnology?

The U.S. is generally thought to lead the world in biotechnology due to the number of biotech patents filed in the country.

What Are the Biggest Biotech Companies in the U.S.?

Some of the biggest biotech companies headquartered in the U.S. are Vertex, Alnylam, BeiGene, Moderna, and Summit.

The Bottom Line

Biotechnology is on the front line of medical research and technology. Investing in biotech companies can pay off handsomely, given the industry’s potential for high profits, but the high risks associated with these firms can produce substantial losses. An investor can mitigate that risk by investing in mutual funds or ETFs, in order to diversify their biotech holdings.