In 2021, Big Pharma accounted for 48 percent of the pharmaceutical market value worldwide, a significant decrease from 77 percent in 2003. This statistic illustrates the share of the pharmaceutical subsectors worldwide comparing the situation in 2003 and 2021.
Value share of the pharmaceutical market worldwide in 2003 and 2021, by subsector*
* Value means value of the commercial side of the drug sector. Torreya estimates it at approximately $7.03 trillion. Of this, $6.1 trillion is associated with publicly-traded companies.
In this statistic “Big pharma” is classified as the 18 largest companies in the sector by value. The biotech sector seems smaller than some might have expected.
This is because we classify a company with no approved product as a “biotechnology company” and a company with a marketed product that is not a big pharma, not a Japan pharma nor a China
branded generic pharma as a branded pharma company. Thus, many companies (think Incyte or Biogen) that some would think of as biotech are classified by us as branded pharma.
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Torreya Partners. (November 8, 2021). Value share of the pharmaceutical market worldwide in 2003 and 2021, by subsector* [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved May 08, 2025, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1245261/value-share-of-pharmaceutical-subsectors-worldwide/
Torreya Partners. "Value share of the pharmaceutical market worldwide in 2003 and 2021, by subsector*." Chart. November 8, 2021. Statista. Accessed May 08, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1245261/value-share-of-pharmaceutical-subsectors-worldwide/
Torreya Partners. (2021). Value share of the pharmaceutical market worldwide in 2003 and 2021, by subsector*. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: May 08, 2025. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1245261/value-share-of-pharmaceutical-subsectors-worldwide/
Torreya Partners. "Value Share of The Pharmaceutical Market Worldwide in 2003 and 2021, by Subsector*." Statista, Statista Inc., 8 Nov 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1245261/value-share-of-pharmaceutical-subsectors-worldwide/
Torreya Partners, Value share of the pharmaceutical market worldwide in 2003 and 2021, by subsector* Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1245261/value-share-of-pharmaceutical-subsectors-worldwide/ (last visited May 08, 2025)
Value share of the pharmaceutical market worldwide in 2003 and 2021, by subsector* [Graph], Torreya Partners, November 8, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1245261/value-share-of-pharmaceutical-subsectors-worldwide/