World’s Top 10 Best Biotech Companies

There are hundreds, even thousands of biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The distinction between biotech and pharmaceutical companies is almost impossible to reliably define, but let’s refer to all biopharma companies as companies that focus on the development of drugs and therapies for diseases.

The Daily Records recently made a list of the “Top 10 Best & Largest Biotech Companies in the World in 2017-2018.” Let’s take a look.

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Often referred to as J&J, this company is headquartered in New Brunswick, N. J. and in 2016 generated a whopping $71.89 billion in revenue. Made up of over 100 companies, it has three major segments, Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, and Consumer Products. In the U.S. alone it markets 172 different medications. Its well-known brand name products include Zyrtec, Tylenol, Sudafed and Motrin.

On Nov. 28, 2017, the company announced that it had decided not to build its JLabs accelerator unit in Britain over economic concerns, specifically Brexit.

An example of a J&J job is Scientist, Enzymology/Biophysics in Spring House, Penn. It is with Janssen Research & Development, and the position is in part of the Discovery Sciences organization. It calls for a PhD in enzymology/biophysics/biochemistry/pharmacology with at least 12 years of experience, or a Bachelor of Science in any of those fields with at least 15 years of experience.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche employed 94,052 people worldwide in 2016. The company has two broad divisions, Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Genentech is a wholly-owned affiliate, operating in the U.S., and Chugai Pharmaceuticals is similarly affiliated in Japan. In 2016, the company brought in about $50 billion in revenue.

Roche and Genentech have numerous job opportunities worldwide. An example is Scientist, Molecular Dynamic Program Lead, - Early Stage Pharmaceutical Development for Genentech in South San Francisco. The position is for a computational biophysicist to lead its molecular dynamics program within Pharmaceutical Development Department. It calls for a PhD with postdoctoral or five years of industrial experience in enhanced sampling molecular dynamics simulations or related field.

Another Swiss company, also headquartered in Basel, Novartis brought in about $48.52 billion in revenue in 2016. It has three operating divisions, Pharmaceuticals, Alcon (eye care) and Sandoz (generics). It also holds 33.3 percent of Roche shares, although it does not exercise control over the company.

On Aug. 30, 2017, the FDA approved the company’s Kymriah, a CAR-T immuno-oncology therapeutic, for patients with B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that is refractory or in second or later relapse. It is the first therapy based on gene transfer to be approved by the agency.

An example of a job opening is Scientist – Pharmacology with the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research in San Diego, Calif. The position will be in the General Medical Biology Department and will develop cell-based models for characterizing novel targets. The position calls for a Bachelor of Science or Master of Science degree in biology or related area with a minimum of five years of laboratory experience.

Based in New York City, Pfizer reported $52.82 billion in revenue and employed 96,500 in 2016. It has numerous products for many diseases, including immunology, oncology, cardiology, diabetes and endocrinology, and neurology. Its products include Lipitor, Lyrica, Diflucan, Zithromax and Viagra.

The company is in the process of building a new headquarters. It has chosen a location, the as-yet constructed Manhattan skyscraper called The Spiral. The company was founded in Brooklyn in 1840 and has been at its current headquarters at 235 and 219 East 42nd Street since 1961. It plans to lease about 800,000 square feet of The Spiral, which was designed by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels and is being developed by real estate developer Tishman Speyer. It will be at 509 West 34th Street and rise 1,005 feet and span 2.85 million square feet.

Pfizer currently has numerous job openings, including NGS Technology Center Scientist at its location in Cambridge, Mass. The position is with the company’s Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Technology Center to support projects across all therapeutic areas, preparing libraries for NGS, operating NGS and assisting in performing assays. The candidate needs a Bachelor of Science in medical technology, molecular biology, biotechnology or a related field with two years of relevant experience.

Merck & Co. has headquarters in Kenilworth, N. J. In the U.S. and Canada, it operates as Merck, but outside those locations does business as Merck Sharp & Dohme, or MSD. The company employs about 69,000 people worldwide and in 2016 reported $39.8 billion in revenue. The company’s core areas are diabetes, infectious diseases, oncology and vaccines. Within animal health, it focuses on livestock, companion animal, and aquaculture.

Recently, Merck restructured its sales team, planning to cut 1,800 sales jobs, while expecting to add 960 sales jobs focused on chronic care. The job cuts are in the area of primary care, disease-focused endocrinology and hospital chronic care.

An example of an open position is Research Associate/Senior Research Associate – Protein Sciences with NGM Biopharmaceuticals in South San Francisco. NGM recently entered a broad, strategic collaboration with Merck to work on therapeutics for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). The position calls for a minimum of a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry, biophysics or related field, advanced degrees preferred, and five or more years of industry experience.

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Headquartered in Foster City, Calif., Gilead primarily concentrated on antiviral drugs for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and influenza. It remains the dominant company in the hepatitis C market with drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi. In 2016, it reported $30.4 billion in revenue and employs about 9,000 people.

In late August, Gilead acquired Kite Pharma. Two months later, on Oct. 19, the FDA approved Kite’s Yescarta (axicatagene ciloleucel, or axi-cel), only the second CAR-T therapy. If anything, this announced Gilead’s serious interest in moving outside antivirals and into oncology.

An example of a job opening is Research Scientist I for Gilead at its Foster City, Calif. location. This position will focus on developing therapies for fibrotic and metabolic diseases such as NASH. The candidate requires a PhD or equivalent and at least three to four years of relevant post-doctoral experience.

Based in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, Novo Nordisk is best known for its diabetes care portfolio, although it is also involved with obesity and weight management, hemophilia management, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. It employs more than 40,000 people globally.

The company is expecting the FDA to approve its once-weekly Semaglutide for type 2 diabetes by Dec. 5, 2017. The drug is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, working with the same mechanism of Eli Lilly’s Trulicity. In a head-to-head trial of Semaglutide and Trulicity, Semaglutide had a better reduction in HbA1c and body weight compared to once-weekly Trulicity.

The company has a Data Scientist position at its location in Seattle. This person will contribute to Device Research & Innovation (DRI)-US activities to develop new technology and products. The position calls for a relevant technical education at the Bachelor of Science level with six years of relevant industry experience.

Headquartered in Thousand Oaks, Calif., the company reported $22.99 billion in revenue in 2016. Amgen has numerous products on the market, including Aranesp, Blincyto, Neulasta, Kyprolis and Epogen.

On Nov. 29, the company announced positive results from its Phase IIII STRIVE trial evaluating Aimovig (erenumab) versus placebo for episodic migraine. Patients on the drug showed a significant reduction in mean monthly migraine days.

The company has a position for a Senior Scientist at its Thousand Oaks location. The position is in the company’s Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism unit, and will be responsible for assay development, validation and GxP use of binding and neutralizing antibody assays for monitoring immunogenicity. The position calls for a PhD and two years of biopharma or CRO experience, or a Master of Science and five years experience, or a Bachelor of Science and seven years of experience.

Located in New York City, Bristol-Myesr Squibb employs approximately 25,000 people worldwide and reported sales of $19.4 billion in 2016. Its therapeutic areas include cancer, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis and psychiatric disorders. Its top drugs include Opdivo, Yervoy, Eliquis and Orencia.

On Nov. 28, the company, with LabCentral, announced two winners of its Bristol-Myers Squibb 2017 Golden Tickets, which underwrite the expenses of one lab bench for one year at LabCentral’s facilities in Kendal Square, Cambridge, Mass. The winners this year were Neutrolis and Remora Therapeutics.

The company has a Senior Research Investigator position open at its facility in Princeton, New Jersey. The individual will join the company’s Department of Discovery Synthesis and optimize and scale up preclinical candidates. It calls for a PhD in organic chemistry with three to five years of experience in process/scale-up chemistry.

Headquartered in Gentilly, France, the company has seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, central nervous system, diabetes, internal medicine, oncology, thrombosis and vaccines. It reported 33.821 billion euros in revenue for 2016 and employs about 110,000 people worldwide.

The company reported on Nov. 30 that its dengue vaccine Dengvaxia could possibly worsen the effects of the mosquito-borne illness. As a result, it’s seeking a label change and proposing an update to its prescribing information.

The company has a Research Associate, Bioanalytics – Characterization position at its site in Framingham, Mass. The position calls for a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry with two to four years of relevant lab experience, or a Master of Science with zero to two years of experience. The position is with the Characterization group, which provides support to early and late-stage biopharmaceutical development.