In this article we talk about 15 fastest growing biotech companies in the US. You can skip our detailed analysis of the biotech industry and go to 5 Fastest Growing Biotech Companies in the US.
Biotechnology is one of the most consequential domains of the healthcare industry. Biotechnology uses biology and the functions of living organisms to make new treatments and technology for healthcare. Advances in biotechnology are stepping stones for human progress in key areas like genetics, DNA sequencing, recombinant gene techniques, applied immunology and diagnostics. Data shows that global biotechnology market is expected to cross $720 billion in value by 2025.
The coronavirus crisis was a huge catalyst for biotech companies, as the world struggled to find a cure for the disease and investors flocked to promising biotech companies working on COVID-19 vaccines. Famous biotech players like Moderna and Novavax Inc. soared to new highs as their vaccines started to show solid results. But relatively unknown biotech stocks like CytoDyn, Equillium Inc. and Humanigen Inc. also received a lot of attention as the world suddenly realized that its apparent progress in healthcare is not enough, and that we still have major existential problems to resolve.
Biotech companies burn a lot of cash and test investors’ patience before returning any money because they spend millions in research and development. But investors are ready to wait as they know the rewards are often big. After all, when Moderna went public in 2018, its $7 billion valuation looked insane and buying its stock felt risky. Today, the company is one of the fastest growing biotech companies in the US, and expects about $11.7 billion in revenue in 2021 just from the government-purchase agreements for its COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna shares have gained 472% over the last 12 months.
Another example is BioNTech, a once obscure German company that had to cut its IPO size after failing to satisfy investors. The company's shares soared to record highs after its vaccination (made in partnership with Pfizer) proved to be 90% effective. The stock is up 220% over the last 12 months.
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Deloitte in a January 2021 report said that the life sciences industry, which includes biotechnology, will be “stronger than ever” in 2021 amid a rising demand, artificial intelligence, increasing partnerships and scientific breakthroughs.
The biotech companies make use of living organisms for drug production but the pharmaceutical companies generally rely on chemicals and synthetic processes in order to manufacture medicines. Biotechnology brought a significantly new drug development strategy that did not fully amalgamate into the chemical-based approach of the established pharmaceutical companies.
In order to determine the fastest growing biotech companies in the US, we have compared the revenue of 2018 to the revenue of 2019 for some of the best and innovative biotech companies.
Let's now take a look at our list of the 15 fastest growing biotech companies in the US.
Headquarters: San Diego, CA
No. of employees: 310
Revenue (2018): $21.2 million
Revenue (2019): $31.43 million
Founded in 2006, Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that makes novel immunotherapies for inflammatory, autoimmune, cancer, metabolic, and neurodegenerative maladies. Its product portfolio incorporates biosimilars, cellular therapy, immuno-oncology antibodies, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). The company's primary segment is related to Immune-Oncology therapeutic area while the Scilex segment is primarily concerned with the non-opioid pain management system. Sorrento has established one of the most diverse antibody libraries that boasts a myriad of superior quality, fully human antibodies.
Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Sorrento is working on new antibody therapeutics. To develop an intramuscular injection that can neutralize Covid-19 and its variant strains, the company got a whopping $34 million contract from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in November.
The company has a slew of diagnostic tests and preventative/ treatment antibody treatments in its pipeline. Sorrento has already received clearance from FDA to proceed with Phase 1 Clinical Trials for STI-2020.
Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts
No. of employees: 208
Revenue (2018): $32 million
Revenue (2019): $20.5 million
Founded in 2013, Editas Medicine, Inc. is a genome editing company that makes therapies based on CRISPR genome editing systems. The CRISPR technology entails CRISPR/Cas9, CRISPR/Cas12a, and the engineered hybrid of these two systems to target the diseases at the genetic level. It is also involved in research collaboration with Juno Therapeutics, Inc.
Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts
No. of employees: 270
Revenue (2018): $30.4 million
Revenue (2019): $43.1 million
Founded in 2014, Intellia Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that is a pioneer in the development of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. The company uses Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) for the delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 complex to the liver. It has a license agreement and strategic collaboration with Novartis on developing novel ex vivo CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies. The company's NTLA-2002 is a candidate for the treatment of Hereditary Angioedema (HAE) while NTLA-5001 is their initial ex vivo development candidate which targets to treat Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML).
The new division of the company, eXtellia Therapeutics, is engaged in the application of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing in the domain of immuno-oncology and autoimmune/inflammatory diseases.
Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts
No. of employees: 420
Revenue (2018): $44.5 million
Revenue (2019): $66.5 million
Founded in 2008, Blueprint Medicines Corporation is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the diseases triggered by kinase activation. In January 2020 BLU-285(Ayvakit) was approved by the FDA as a treatment of metastatic GIST harboring a PDGFRA exon 18 mutation as well as PDGFRA D842V mutations. Its drug BLU-667(Gavreto) won the FDA approval for the treatment of adults with metastatic RET fusion-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (“NSCLC”). The company's pipeline of primary drug candidates includes BLU-554(Fisogatinib), which is for patients with advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC), and BLU-945, which is designed to target EGFR tumors.
Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts.
No. of employees: 237
Revenue (2018): $14 million
Revenue (2019): $74 million
Founded in 2003, Acceleron Pharma Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that is involved in developing protein therapies to neutralize certain types of rare diseases and cancer. The company has prioritized and focused its research and development projects around three main therapeutic fields: neuromuscular, pulmonary, and hematology.
On April 3, 2020, the FDA approved the company's luspatercept-aamt for anemia in adults with MDS. Its candidates which are undergoing clinical trials include ACE-083, designed for the treatment of focal muscle disorders; Sotatercept, designed to treat pulmonary arterial hypertension; and ACE-1334 for the treatment of Systemic Sclerosis.
The company has partnerships with biotech giants like Bristol-Myers Squibb, Alkermes and Shire.
Headquarters: San Diego, California
No. of employees: 178
Revenue (2018): 4.740 million
Revenue (2019): 10.7 million
Ranking 10th on our list of 15 fastest growing biotech companies in the US is Fate. Founded in 2007, Fate Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that is engaged in the development of programmed cellular immunotherapies for immune disorder and cancer. Its pipeline of products entails immuno-regulation candidates and immuno-oncology candidates. ProHema is its lead candidate drug which utilizes the blood of the umbilical cord to treat hematologic malignancies. The company programs immune cells, such as T cells, Natural Killer (NK) cells, and CD34+ cells by utilizing its cell programming approach. Its under-development programs include FT500, FT516, and FT-ONO2 to treat advanced solid tumors; FT516 to treat acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and B-cell lymphoma; FT538 for the treatment of AML and multiple myeloma; FT576 to treat multiple myeloma; FT596 to treat B-cell lymphoma and CLL; FT819 to treat B-cell malignancies, and FT-ONO1 to treat hematologic malignancies.
Headquarters: San Diego, California
No. of employees: 111
Revenue (2018): $13 million
Revenue (2019): $3.3 million
Founded in 1995, Mirati Therapeutics, Inc. ranks 9th on our list of 15 fastest growing biotech companies in the US. It has a pipeline of oncology products for treating particular genetic and epigenetic drivers of cancer in selected subsets of patients having limited treatment options. The company's clinical programs include two major product candidates: Sitravatinib, a multi-kinase inhibitor, and MRTX849, a Kirsten Rat Sarcoma (KRAS) G12C inhibitor. MRTX849 is designed for treating non-small cell lung (NSCL), pancreatic, colorectal, and other cancers while Sitravatinib is designed for treating NSCL cancer, and for inhibiting receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs).
Headquarters: Novato, California.
No. of employees: 740
Revenue (2018): $51.5 million
Revenue (2019): $104 million
Founded in 2010, Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., is one of the 15 fastest growing biotech companies in the US. It works on novel drugs for neutralizing rare and ultra-rare diseases concerned with genetics. The candidate products of Ultragenyx are categorized into three types: gene therapy, biologics, and small molecule products. The portfolio of the company's medicine includes Crysvita (KRN23), Mepsevii (UX003), and Triheptatonin (UX007). Crysvita is for treating the X-linked hypophosphatemia (XLH) in adults and pediatric patients while Mepsevii is for treating the Mucopolysaccharidosis VII indicated in pediatric and adult patients. The US market accounts for around 85% of the company's revenue.
The company's clinical-stage pipeline consists of two candidates: DTX 301 which is developed for the treatment of individuals with ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency and DTX 401 for the treatment of patients with Glycogen Storage Disease Type 1a (GSDIa).
Headquarters: Vancouver, Canada.
No. of employees: 174
Revenue (2018): $8.8 million
Revenue (2019): $11.6 million
Founded in 2012, AbCellera Biologics Inc. is a biotechnology company that focuses on developing antibodies to prevent and treat highly infectious diseases. Its platform entails and integrates technology tools from single- microfluidics, cell analysis, engineering, high-throughput genomics, data science, and machine learning. The company is also involved in developing next-generation transgenic mice for the detection of therapeutic antibody candidates.
The company's subsidiaries include AbCellera Properties Columbia Inc., AbCellera Properties Inc., Lineage Biosciences Inc., Channel Biologics Pty Ltd., AbCellera US Holdings Inc. and Trianni, Inc.
Bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555), the drug discovered by AbCellera and developed with Eli Lily & Co., has received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be used in combination with Etesevimab (LY-CoV016) for the treatment of COVID-19.
Headquarters: Shanghai, China.
No. of employees: 859
Revenue (2018): $129,000
Revenue (2019): $12.9 million
Ranking 6th on our list of 15 fastest growing biotech companies in the US is ZLAB. Zai Lab Limited is a biopharmaceutical company that focuses on developing and commercializing drugs related to the fields of oncology, autoimmune, and infectious diseases. The flagship products of the company include Niraparib for the treatment of multiple solid tumors, and Optune, a cancer therapy for treating glioblastoma multiforme. The company's pipeline of proprietary drug candidates includes discovery-stage to late-stage clinical programs. It includes Fugan (ZL-3101), ZL-2103, ZL-2302, ZL-1101, and several others.
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Disclosure: None. 15 Fastest Growing Biotech Companies in the US is originally published on Insider Monkey.
