Covid-19 dominates among the world's 10 largest vaccine companies

On November 9, 2020, the news came that the entire world had been waiting for after being almost paralyzed for several months by the progress of the Covid-19 pandemic. Pfizer and the development partner BionTech announced preliminary results from the then ongoing Phase III study with the vaccine candidate BNT162B2. Not long after, several other companies were able to follow up with their own positive efficacy data, and just a few months later, the newly developed vaccines were on their way to the world's population. The rest, as they popularly say, is history.

BNT162b2 the clear winner

When the news site FiercePharma recently compiled a list of the world's ten largest vaccine companies in 2021, there is no doubt that the vaccine industry has been fundamentally reshaped. After previously holding pole position, companies such as Merck, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi have been overtaken. In unchallenged first place is Pfizer, which in 2021 recorded vaccine revenues of just under USD 43 billion. In second place we find Pfizer's German partner BioNTech, which in 2021 had vaccine revenues of just over USD 22 billion.

BioStock recently published an article about BioNTech's journey – from anonymous biotech company to major player in the vaccine market – which you can read here. here.

The Covid-19 vaccine dominates

In third and fourth place we find A nephew and Modern, whose revenues are known to be almost exclusively COVID-19-related. COVID-19 is also represented a little further down the list, in places nine and ten. Ninth place went to AstraZeneca, which was also early to present positive phase III results regarding its Vaxzevria.

However, the company has struggled with production problems along the way and has had difficulty delivering promised volumes. In addition, there were some questions about the vaccine's safety profile after it was discovered that a number of people vaccinated with Vaxzevria suffered from blood clots. AstraZeneca's vaccine sales in 2021 amounted to just under $4 billion.

Problems were also noted at number ten on the list, Johnson & Johnson, which launched its Covid-19 vaccine slightly later than its competitors further up the list. Like AstraZeneca, it had production issues and blood clots were also reported here. Vaccine sales for Johnson & Johnson in 2021 were around $2,4 billion. However, this was a relatively small part of the company's total sales, which amounted to a staggering $94 billion – making it the most profitable pharmaceutical company in the world in 2021.

Gardasil also makes a clear mark in the top list

It is only in fifth place that we find a company whose vaccine sales are not dominated by a Covid-19 vaccine, namely the American Merck. The company withdrew from the Covid-19 race after positive Phase III results began to roll in for its competitors. Excluding the Covid-19 vaccine, Merck had grabbed the top spot on the vaccine list, largely thanks to the crown jewel in its vaccine portfolio, the HPV vaccine. Gardasil which in 2021 brought in a whopping USD 5,7 billion to the company.

Gardasil also makes its mark further down the list, where we find Chinese in eighth place. ZhifeiThe company, which holds the Chinese rights to Gardasil, recorded total sales of USD 2021 billion in 4,8.

Huge vaccine sales despite failed covid-19 collaboration

In sixth and seventh place among the world's largest vaccine companies are the giants GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, who collaborated during the pandemic to develop a vaccine against Covid-19. However, the collaboration did not bear fruit, and the companies have had to rely on the already established vaccine portfolios to pick their investments in FiercePharma's review.

For GlaxoSmithKline, vaccine sales in 2021 reached USD 9,3 billion. Here it is pointed out Shingrix as the single most important product. The vaccine targets shingles and the company aims to reach Shingrix sales of around £2026 billion by 4, which is more than double compared to 2021's £1,7 billion.

In Sanofi's case, vaccine sales in 2021 amounted to approximately USD 7,5 billion. For Sanofi, influenza continues to be an important pillar of the vaccine business, along with polio, whooping cough and haemophilus influenzae type b.

The ten largest vaccine companies in 2021

Below is a summary of the ten companies with the highest vaccine sales in 2021, as compiled by FiercePharma. Sales have been collected from the companies' own communications and the currency has been calculated using 2021 average exchange rates.