January 1, 1970 (Vol. , No. )

New Rochelle, NY, July 24, 2013—For the second year in a row Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) ranked No. 1 on the Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News list of the top 25 biotech companies. The listings, based on market capitalization determined by company-furnished numbers for the most recent quarter available, show Novo valued at $85.3 billion for this year versus $62.8 billion for 2012, according to GEN.

“Novo Nordisk has been a major player in the diabetes market for years and is well known for its recombinant insulin product,” says John Sterling, editor in chief of GEN. “The company also markets recombinant growth hormone and recombinant factor VIIa. In addition, Novo Nordisk has a number of monoclonal antibody products for a range of indications in clinical trials. So it’s no surprise that they top our biotech company list.”

Right behind Novo Nordisk is Amgen (NASDAQ:AMGN) with a $78.7 billion market cap, Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) at $78.4 billion, Celgene (NASDAQ:CELG) coming in at $52.6 billion, and Biogen Idec (NASDAQ:BIIB), having a market cap of $47.2 billion.

Five of the listed companies saw their market cap more than double, as investors primarily rewarded companies that brought new drugs through trials and FDA review to market: BioMarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN), Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIS), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ONXX), Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:VRTX), and especially Gilead, which nearly tripled its market cap. Gilead had spent recent months integrating Pharmasset and growing its strong HIV portfolio with approvals last year for the combination drug Stribild (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), as well as for the first drug indicated for preventing the AIDS virus, the combo treatment Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate).

Only two of the top 25 companies on this list—Teva (NYSE:TEVA) and Elan (NYSE:ELN)—saw their share prices decline, in each case following unique challenges that had many of the same biotech investors heading for the proverbial exits

Click here to see the entire listing of GEN’s Top 25 Biotech Companies of 2013.

For Immediate Release

Contact: John Sterling, Editor in Chief
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News
(914) 740-2196, [email protected]

About Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN)
Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News, published 21 times a year by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers, is the most widely read biotechnology news magazine worldwide. It includes articles on Drug Discovery, Bioprocessing, OMICS, Biobusiness, and Translational Medicine.

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