KEY PLAYERS
IN THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY
This graphic lists some of the key players in the biotech industry, and there is a brief summary below of the biotech companies involved in developing the COVID-19 vaccines and Amazon's steps to become a player in this industry.
We will be taking a closer look at AgraQuest and Pam Marrone on the following pages because of their involvement in the case of injured worker David Bell.
To give you an idea of the size and scope of the biotech industry, here are statistics from the four largest companies (based on 2015 and 2016 numbers):
- Johnson & Johnson operates in 60 countries with sales in more than 175 countries and headquarters in New Brunswick in the US state of New Jersey. It employs approximately 127,100 individuals and had global sales of around $70.1 billion in 2015. In 2016, Johnson & Johnson had a market capitalization of $314.1 billion.
- In 2020, Johnson & Johnson’s market value was around $387 billion.
- Pfizer has approximately 78,300 employees and had a 2015 revenue rate of $48.85 billion. In 2016, Pfizer had a market capitalization of $196.3 billion.
- Roche has around 88,509 employees and a 2014 revenue rate of $47.65 billion. In 2016, Roche had a market capitalization of $192.1 billion.
- Novartis employs 118,700 individuals around the world and in 2015, had a revenue of $50.359. In 2016, Novartis had a market capitalization of $170.5 billion.
Additional statistics from a 2021 report:
- The global biotechnology market value is expected to reach $727.1 billion by 2025
- The revenue of the biotech industry was $108.2 billion in 2020
- Eight biotechs raised $1.3 billion through the first quarter
- Globally, venture capital firms invested $16.8 billion in private drug development in 2018
- 57% of Americans believe that GMO food is unsafe
- The top five biotech crop-growing countries hold 174.5 million hectares of planted biotech crops
AgraQuest
AgraQuest was created in 1995 by Pam Marrone. It is a biotechnology company that searches throughout the world for novel microorganisms (new types of fungus, bacteria, etc.) to be used in the place of chemicals for diseases of plants and insect control. These microorganisms also produce disease in humans. Learn more about AgraQuest's role in the biotech industry.
Pam Marrone
Pam Marrone founded AgraQuest where employee David Bell was injured when he was exposed to a microorganism in the workplace. Marrone was "kicked out" of her job in 2006 as CEO at AgraQuest and "retired" suddenly in 2020 from her job as CEO at Marrone Bio Innovations. Learn more about Pam Marrone and her history in the biotech industry.
Vaccine Development
The COVID-19 pandemic shined a light on several biotech companies who are involved in on developing the vaccines. Some of the companies involved are Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Sinovac, NSTDA, Bharat Biotech, Novavax, CanSino Biologics and many others. Covid-19 vaccines have created at least nine new billionaires after shares in companies producing the shots soared.
Amazon Invests $15 Million in Nautilus Biotechnology
Amazon.com Inc. invested over $14.7 million into Nautilus Biotechnology, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing at the end of July. Amazon has been making a number of moves to further its health care business. In 2018, it bought the startup PillPack for $753 million, giving itself an online pharmacy. Its cloud-computing division, Amazon Web Services has also built up a presence in health care, including its rollout of HealthLake, a service to store and analyze health care data.
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