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2874 companies · fiscal year 2025 · SEC EDGAR · September 25, 2026

Healthcare companies that spend the most on R&D

Research and development expense is what the company charged to R&D in the income statement for the year. Most companies report no R&D at all — the line is absent rather than zero — so this ranking covers the roughly 40% of filers that do. Figures are for fiscal year 2025 and are read directly from each company's SEC filings; the source column on every row links to the document.

Ranks 1–100 of 243 · Fiscal year 2025 · Data as of September 25, 2026

Merck (MRK) tops the list with $15.8B in r&d expense for fiscal 2025, ahead of AstraZeneca ($14.2B) and Eli Lilly ($13.3B). The top 10 together report $104B in r&d expense; the gap between #1 and #10 is ×2.70. 243 companies in Healthcare report r&d expense, 19.1% of the 1270-filer universe. The last place on the list, Lantheus Holdings, comes in at $177M.

R&D expense
#CompanyR&D expenseYoY15-year trend
1MerckMRKUS$15.8B−12.0%
2AstraZenecaAZNGB$14.2B+4.8%
3Eli LillyLLYUS$13.3B+21.3%
4PfizerPFEUS$10.4B−3.6%
5Bristol Myers SquibbBMYUS$10.0B−10.8%
6GSKGSKGB$9.9B+21.3%
7AbbVieABBVUS$9.1B−28.9%
8Novo Nordisk A SNVODK$7.9B+13.0%
9AmgenAMGNUS$7.3B+21.9%
10Regeneron PharmaceuticalsREGNUS$5.9B+14.0%
11Gilead SciencesGILDUS$5.8B−1.8%
12Vertex PharmaceuticalsVRTXUS$3.9B+7.7%
13ModernaMRNAUS$3.1B−31.1%
14Abbott LaboratoriesABTUS$2.9B+3.4%
15MedtronicMDTIE$2.9B+5.2%
16BiontechBNTXDE$2.4B−2.5%
17Beone MedicinesONCCH$2.1B+9.9%
18Boston ScientificBSXUS$2.1B+27.1%
19IncyteINCYUS$2.1B−21.4%
20Koninklijke PhilipsPHGNL$1.9B+1.6%
21BiogenBIIBUS$1.8B−10.2%
22StrykerSYKUS$1.6B+10.7%
23GenmabGMABDK$1.6B+13.6%
24Sarepta TherapeuticsSRPTUS$1.5B+89.2%
25Alnylam PharmaceuticalsALNYUS$1.3B+17.2%
26Intuitive SurgicalISRGUS$1.3B+14.5%
27Becton DickinsonBDXUS$1.3B+6.3%
28GE Healthcare TechnologiesGEHCUS$1.3B−3.9%
29Edwards LifesciencesEWUS$1.1B+2.5%
30Neurocrine BiosciencesNBIXUS$1.0B+38.9%
31Teva Pharmaceutical IndustriesTEVAIL$1.0B+1.5%
32AlconALCUS$990M+13.0%
33ViatrisVTRSUS$966M+19.4%
34Biomarin PharmaceuticalBMRNUS$922M+23.4%
35Ionis PharmaceuticalsIONSUS$916M+1.6%
36ExelixisEXELUS$825M−9.4%
37Jazz PharmaceuticalsJAZZIE$783M−11.5%
38InsmedINSMUS$771M+28.9%
39Ultragenyx PharmaceuticalRAREUS$750M+7.4%
40SolventumSOLVUS$739M−4.6%
413MMMMUS$700M0.0%
42ZoetisZTSUS$698M+1.7%
43Universe PharmaceuticalsUPCCN$672M−77.8%
44Bausch Health CompaniesBHCCA$629M+2.1%
45NateraNTRAUS$624M+54.4%
46Arrowhead PharmaceuticalsARWRUS$607M+20.0%
47DexcomDXCMUS$599M+8.5%
48United TherapeuticsUTHRUS$550M+14.3%
49Arcus BiosciencesRCUSUS$523M+16.7%
50Exact SciencesEXASUS$523M+21.3%
51Lakefront BiotherapeuticsLKFTBE$519M+43.0%
52Baxter InternationalBAXUS$518M−12.2%
53Zimmer BiometZBHUS$459M+4.8%
54PTC TherapeuticsPTCTUS$455M−14.8%
55Royalty PharmaRPRXUS$452M+22,500.0%
56Bridgebio PharmaBBIOUS$452M−10.8%
57Minimed GroupMMEDUS$448M+2.8%
58Legend BiotechLEGNUS$415M+0.3%
59Beam TherapeuticsBEAMUS$410M+11.4%
60Madrigal PharmaceuticalsMDGLUS$389M+64.1%
61Bausch & LombBLCOCA$371M+8.2%
62Align TechnologyALGNUS$370M+1.6%
63Elanco Animal HealthELANUS$368M+7.0%
64OrganonOGNUS$366M−22.0%
65Guardant HealthGHUS$364M+4.7%
66Ascendis PharmaASNDDK$343M+3.2%
67NovavaxNVAXUS$342M−12.5%
68ResmedRMDUS$331M+7.7%
69Acadia PharmaceuticalsACADUS$329M+8.4%
70AlkermesALKSIE$324M+32.1%
71Ideaya BiosciencesIDYAUS$315M+6.8%
72InsuletPODDUS$301M+37.1%
73Iovance BiotherapeuticsIOVAUS$300M+8.7%
74Smith & NephewSNNGB$296M+2.4%
75ArvinasARVNUS$285M−18.1%
76Teladoc HealthTDOCUS$278M−9.6%
77Immunocore HoldingsIMCRGB$275M+23.7%
78Syndax PharmaceuticalsSNDXUS$259M+7.1%
79Corcept TherapeuticsCORTUS$255M+3.2%
80Idexx LaboratoriesIDXXUS$251M+14.3%
81Ginkgo BioworksDNAUS$244M−42.5%
82XencorXNCRUS$239M+5.2%
83RegenxbioRGNXUS$228M+9.5%
84NovocureNVCR$225M+7.1%
85Zai LabZLABCN$221M−5.8%
86Sinovac BiotechSVACN$216M−20.1%
87Travere TherapeuticsTVTXUS$206M−5.3%
88VaxartVXRTUS$202M+171.6%
89GrailGRALUS$196M−39.3%
90Tandem Diabetes CareTNDMUS$193M−2.9%
91Harmony BiosciencesHRMYUS$190M+30.0%
92QiagenQGENNL$188M−3.1%
93QuidelorthoQDELUS$186M−14.9%
94Mirum PharmaceuticalsMIRMUS$186M+32.4%
95Amneal PharmaceuticalsAMRXUS$186M−2.4%
96LivanovaLIVNGB$186M+1.8%
97AlvotechALVOLU$184M+7.5%
98Axsome TherapeuticsAXSMUS$183M−2.0%
99Fresenius Medical CareFMSDE$179M−10.1%
100Lantheus HoldingsLNTHUS$177M+5.5%

All figures from SEC filings · FY2025 · 100

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{{cite web |title=Healthcare companies that spend the most on R&D |url=https://companiesranked.com/en/healthcare-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development |website=CompaniesRanked |date=2026-09-25 |language=en}}

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CompaniesRanked. (September 25, 2026). Healthcare companies that spend the most on R&D. CompaniesRanked. https://companiesranked.com/en/healthcare-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development

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@misc{companiesranked-en-healthcare-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development-2026,
  author       = {{CompaniesRanked}},
  title        = {{Healthcare companies that spend the most on R\&D}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://companiesranked.com/en/healthcare-companies-that-spend-the-most-on-research-and-development}},
  note         = {Compiled from SEC EDGAR XBRL filings; data as of 2026-09-25},
  urldate      = {2026-09-25}
}

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