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Top 10 Global CRO Rankings in 2022
Top 10 Global CRO Rankings in 2022
Organizations that conduct contract research The pharma, biotech, and medtech industries rely on CROs to help them test, refine, and commercialize their products.

Although the new crown virus epidemic is still raging around the world, the CRO industry, as a sub-sector of biomedicine, still maintains a good growth momentum. Whether it is a CRO undertaking clinical research or a CDMO undertaking production tasks, they are all actively assisting in the research and development and product supply of new crown vaccines and drugs, and they have also made good profits.

  Notes:

  1) This list covers CROs in a broad sense, with business areas covering preclinical research, clinical trials, pharmaceutical development, and commissioned production of raw materials and drugs (CDMO and CMO) related to new drug development;

  2) Thermo includes PPD (M&A completed in December 2021: 2021 revenue of $6.020 billion, 30,000 employees) and Patheon (2017 M&A completed: 2016 revenue of $1.9 billion, 9,000 employees). The growth rate is calculated in PPD only;

  3) PRA will be officially incorporated into ICON in July 2021, and since then PRA revenue has also been incorporated into ICON’s annual report; here, ICON’s annual report revenue and PRA’s revenue in the first and second quarters of 2021 will be combined;

  4) Lonza's revenue was 5.409 billion Swiss francs, and the exchange rate was converted to US dollars at 1.09;

  5) Wuxi includes WuXi AppTec and WuXi Biologics, and the combined revenue is converted into US dollars at the exchange rate of 6.45;

  6) Catalent's fiscal year is July 2020 to June 2021;

  7) Parexel has been delisted since it was acquired by a consortium in 2017. Only the revenue announced in 2018 is here for reference.

  Judging from the list, the top two revenue still maintain good growth even with more than 10 billion US dollars, and there is always a huge gap behind them, and their dominant position is unbreakable. Thermo occupies the third position after the acquisition of PPD. ICON has also become an industry giant after completing the acquisition of PRA.

  The 5-7 positions after that have already shown a stalemate. In the changing competitive environment, it is very likely that there will be a change in seating next year. In particular, the growth rate of the WuXi department is astonishing, it is expected to catch up with the previous positions, and it has the confidence to shout the slogan of challenging Lonza, which is also the "hope of the whole village" in the Chinese pharmaceutical industry.

  NO.1  LabCorp

  In 2021, LabCorp's revenue topped $16 billion in one fell swoop, an increase of more than 15.3% from the previous year. Among them, the clinical diagnosis business revenue was nearly 10.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 12.0%; while the drug development business revenue exceeded 5.8 billion US dollars, an increase of 19.8%.

  In 2021, the company conducted more than 31 million new coronavirus PCR tests and nearly 4 million antibody tests. Both the number of tests and the performance contribution are basically the same as in 2020. Of course, such detection capabilities are nothing compared to our country. With vaccination coverage, and the approval of new crown drugs and new crown virus rapid test kits, the company does not expect this part of the business to reach 2021 levels.

  Labcorp's drug development segment is involved in 82% of the new drugs approved by the US FDA in 2021, including 63% of oncology drugs and 95% of rare diseases.

  In 2021, the company's total global employees will reach 75,500, mainly in North America, accounting for 75%; followed by Asia, accounting for 12%.

  The most well-known industry in China is the clinical sample center laboratory business, which belongs to the original Covance. In October 2021, Covance officially changed its name to Labcorp, a transliteration of the parent company Labcorp. save with Amazon Discount Code UK and Amazon Discount Code NHS

  NO.2 IQVIA Ai Kunwei

  After a stagnant 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is finally recovering in 2021 with a strong revenue growth of 22.1%. In particular, the clinical research segment of the former Quintiles grew by 31.2% to US$7.556 billion, worthy of the global leader in clinical research CROs.

  Despite the impact of the new crown epidemic, 2020 has experienced the unfavorable factors of the suspension of many clinical trials. However, since 2021, they have been restarted one after another, and the company has also undertaken new coronavirus-related projects, and the company expects to carry out new coronavirus-related projects from 2022 to 2023, involving virus variant vaccines and other new therapeutic drugs. More importantly, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the implementation of decentralized clinical trials. The company has also strengthened remote technology and on-site support to reduce patient fatigue, while also strengthening the company's ties with local laboratories, researchers and medical workers.

  In 2021, the company will employ 79,000 people worldwide.

  NO.3 Thermo

  In April 2021, Thermo Fisher announced the acquisition of PPD for $17.4 billion and completed the acquisition in December of that year. This is another major move to strengthen the CRO business following the acquisition of Patheon in 2017. This move also pushed Thermo Fisher to the top three in the world.

  Previously, PPD experienced the capital process of its first IPO, delisting, and then another IPO. And, a second IPO was not too long ago in 2020. After the merger with Thermo Fisher, there should be no more tossing.

  At present, Thermo Fisher's CRO layout includes: PPD for clinical research, Patheon for contract production of CDMO, and Clinical Trials Services for clinical sample labeling, packaging, warehousing and logistics. The latter two businesses are subordinate to the Laboratory Products and Services division. The company announced that the revenue of this division has not been specifically distinguished, so Thermo Fisher's CRO revenue is only an estimate here. The actual revenue and number of people must be more, and there is no doubt that it ranks third.

  NO.4 ICON

  In February 2021, ICON announced the acquisition of PRA for US$12 billion, and the merger was officially announced in July. Consolidated revenue reached $7.462 billion. 38,000 employees worldwide in 2021.

  ICON's global business is highly concentrated and evenly distributed in the United States and Europe, accounting for 47.1% and 46.4%, respectively. And revenue is also concentrated in the top five customers, accounting for about a third (31.6% in 2021, compared to 39.1% in 2020).

  Regarding the new crown virus epidemic, ICON specifically mentioned the Phase 3 clinical trial of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. ICON has enrolled more than 44,000 patients in just four months at 153 clinical sites in the U.S., Europe and Latin America, an unprecedented clinical trial.

  NO.5 Lonza

  Lonza remains a global leader in CDMO.

  In 2021, the company's revenue is CHF 5.4 billion, a 20% increase. With 16,000 employees worldwide, it has the smallest number of employees among the listed companies.

  With more than 100 years of industry accumulation, Lonza has firmly grasped the customers of large companies, and 46% of the total revenue comes from large pharmaceutical companies. Geographically, although it is a Swiss company, it also has strong competitiveness in the US market, where 48% of its revenue comes from.  Save with Amazon Voucher Code NHS , Amazon NHS DiscountAmazon coupon code 10 Off,  Amazon Discount Code and Amazon NHS Promo Code , Amazon Discount Code NHS

  In China, after more than two years of construction, the Lonza Guangzhou biopharmaceutical factory will finally be put into operation in 2021, and can produce stock solutions for clinical samples; at the same time, a preparation filling production line will be built.

  NO.6 Syneos Health

  In 2021, Syneos recovers from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, growing by 18.1%. 28,000 employees worldwide in 2021.

  Syneos' business is divided into clinical trials and drug sales, with revenue accounting for 77% and 23%, respectively. Geographically, North America is the main source of revenue at 60%, while Asia Pacific has 11%. The top five customers contributed 22% of the performance.

  NO. 7 Wuxi

  WuXi Biologics and WuXi AppTec are calculated as a combination of the WuXi Department.

  In 2021, WuXi’s combined revenue of $5.145 billion represents a staggering 57.8% growth. The number of employees reaches 45,000. Whether it is revenue or personnel, the growth rate is far ahead of its peers. Despite the enormous pressure from the external environment, the WuXi department will maintain rapid growth from the perspective of the development trend in recent years.

  Although it is still ranked seventh, the gap in front of him is very close, and there is a high probability that he will surpass several positions next year. Especially Lonza, who has been chasing after him, seems to be within reach of the WuXi department. At this rate, it is expected to be able to compete directly in 2022. The victory of the WuXi department is to seize the booming development of biomedicine in China and the dividend of Chinese engineers. The next goal is to compete with Lonza in commercialization projects, especially the commercialization projects of Big Pharma.

  NO.8 Catalent

  Catalent started with the production of soft capsules, which can be traced back to the Scherer company established in 1933. Today, this part of the business accounts for only 25% of the total revenue, and the main revenue comes from the production of biological drugs, which contributes 48% of the total revenue in fiscal 2021.

  The biopharmaceutical technology platform established by Catalent includes various cell expression systems for protein production (including GPEx, GPEx Boost and GPEx Lightning), ADC technology SMARTag, AAV vectors for cell gene therapy and plasmid DNA production.

  Catalent has won the favor of most leading companies, including 87 of the top 100 branded drug companies, 23 of the top 25 generic drug companies, 24 of the top 25 biopharmaceutical companies, and the top 25 consumers 17 of the nutraceutical companies. However, from a geographical point of view, Catalent's main revenue still comes from the United States, accounting for 62%.

  The company's revenue in 2021 was $3.998 billion, an increase of nearly 29.2% from the previous year. Has 17,000 employees worldwide.

  NO.9 Charles River

  The company's business is divided into three major sectors: Research Models and Services (RMS), Drug Discovery and Safety Assessment (DSA), and Manufacturing Solutions, with revenue accounting for 19.5%, 59.5% and 21.0% respectively. %.

  Charles River operates in China with Vitonli as the main body. Besides mice, the most well-known in China is biosafety testing, including cell bank testing and virus clearance verification. This part of the work is necessary for antibody drug CMC process development and product release. Enterprises will not build their own facilities but choose to outsource them. At present, the main players in the European and American markets are Bioreliance and Charles River.

  The company's revenue for 2021 is $3.540 billion, up 21.1% from the previous year. Has 20,000 employees worldwide.

  NO.10 Parexel

  Since it was delisted by a private equity acquisition in 2017, Parexel’s performance has become a mystery, and the last figure is the $2.5 billion announced in 2018. Since there is no other CRO in the world that can reach $2.5 billion, even $2 billion. Therefore, this TOP 10 list still puts Parexel on it. Maybe some latecomers can cross this threshold as soon as possible.

  After divesting its information systems and medical imaging businesses in 2021, Parexel will reduce its workforce slightly, but remains at 18,000.