Top 10 Global CRO Rankings in 2022

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

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

NO.
1 LabCorp

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.

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

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

NO.
2 IQVIA Ai Kunwei

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, an increase of 31.

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

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 layout in the CRO field 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, and the actual revenue and number of people must be more, and there is no doubt that it ranks third
.

NO.
4 ICON

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 one-third (31.
6% in 2021 and 39.
1% in 2020)
.

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

NO.
5 Lonza

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
.

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

NO.
6 Syneos Health

In 2021, Syneos recovered from the impact of the new crown virus epidemic, growing 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

NO.
7 Wuxi

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

The combined revenue of WuXi in 2021 is $5.
145 billion, an astonishing 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

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 total revenue, while the main revenue comes from biopharmaceutical production, which contributes 48% of 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

NO.
9 Charles River

The company's business is divided into three major segments: 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  

NO.
10 Parexel  

Since it was delisted by private equity acquisitions in 2017, Parexel’s performance has become a mystery, and the last data 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
.