2019 Research Leaders: Leading corporate institutions

The 2019 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2018.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2017 Share 2018 Count 2018 Change in Adjusted Share* 2017–2018
1 IBM Corporation, United States of America (USA) 47.71 40.65 112 -19.6% Decrease
2 Merck & Co., Inc., United States of America (USA) 35.51 28.91 69 -23.1% Decrease
3 Alphabet Inc., United States of America (USA) 9.31 21.49 56 117.8% Increase
4 Pfizer Inc., United States of America (USA) 23.24 21.16 67 -14.1% Decrease
5 Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), United States of America (USA) 16.34 18.62 47 7.6% Increase
6 Amgen Inc., United States of America (USA) 14.77 17.50 64 11.8% Increase
7 DowDuPont Inc., United States of America (USA) 12.72 14.57 51 8.1% Increase
8 Microsoft Corporation, United States of America (USA) 11.60 13.73 69 11.8% Increase
9 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., United States of America (USA) 7.62 11.66 56 44.4% Increase
10 Johnson & Johnson, United States of America (USA) 11.64 9.85 41 -20.1% Decrease
11 Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil), United States of America (USA) 7.82 8.60 28 3.8% Increase
12 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 4.95 8.00 19 52.6% Increase
13 Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI), United States of America (USA) 5.88 7.95 35 27.6% Increase
14 AbbVie Inc., United States of America (USA) 8.55 7.06 23 -22.1% Decrease
15 Leidos Holdings, Inc., United States of America (USA) 4.27 6.30 82 39.2% Increase
16 Bruker Corporation, United States of America (USA) 7.28 6.18 37 -19.9% Decrease
17 Eli Lilly and Company, United States of America (USA) 9.38 5.93 32 -40.2% Decrease
18 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 3.45 4.08 21 11.5% Increase
19 HP Inc., United States of America (USA) 3.76 4.05 10 1.5% Increase
20 Intel Corporation, United States of America (USA) 2.56 3.43 21 26.6% Increase
21 Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (AER), United States of America (USA) 1.14 3.33 9 175.0% Increase
22 Illumina, Inc., United States of America (USA) 3.21 3.22 17 -5.2% Decrease
23 Agilent Technologies, Inc., United States of America (USA) 3.24 3.14 16 -8.5% Decrease
24 Abbott Laboratories, United States of America (USA) 0.10 3.04 6 2,736.3% Increase
25 General Electric Company (GE), United States of America (USA) 0.85 2.84 11 214.8% Increase
26 New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB), United States of America (USA) 3.63 2.68 7 -30.2% Decrease
27 Waters Corporation, United States of America (USA) 3.27 2.45 9 -29.3% Decrease
28 Human Longevity, Inc., United States of America (USA) 3.74 2.44 8 -38.3% Decrease
29 D. E. Shaw Research, United States of America (USA) 0.08 2.30 5 2,501.2% Increase
30 Gilead Sciences, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.64 2.29 10 32.3% Increase
31 HRL Laboratories LLC, United States of America (USA) 2.63 2.28 6 -18.0% Decrease
32 Jacobs, United States of America (USA) 2.40 2.22 30 -12.7% Decrease
33 Corning Incorporated, United States of America (USA) 0.26 2.21 6 712.8% Increase
34 GATS Inc., United States of America (USA) 4.58 2.02 10 -58.5% Decrease
35 Biogen Inc., United States of America (USA) 6.96 2.00 15 -72.8% Decrease
36 Novilytic, LLC, United States of America (USA) 0.00 2.00 2 0.0% Increase
37 Wellspring Biosciences, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.90 2 0.0% Increase
38 GlobalFoundries Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.63 1.84 4 175.1% Increase
39 NorthWest Research Associates, Inc. (NWRA), United States of America (USA) 4.98 1.83 21 -65.2% Decrease
40 Procter & Gamble (P&G), United States of America (USA) 0.58 1.77 8 190.2% Increase
41 Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.08 1.75 12 53.5% Increase
42 Lockheed Martin Corporation, United States of America (USA) 2.16 1.73 19 -24.4% Decrease
43 Aerodyne Research, Inc. (ARI), United States of America (USA) 2.03 1.73 12 -19.8% Decrease
44 Chevron Corporation, United States of America (USA) 4.66 1.66 13 -66.3% Decrease
45 Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.58 1.64 6 164.2% Increase
46 General Motors (GM), United States of America (USA) 0.72 1.57 7 105.3% Increase
47 Integral Molecular, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.11 1.56 5 1,272.0% Increase
48 ICF International, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.57 1.46 3 140.9% Increase
49 Thorlabs, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.30 1.46 4 358.5% Increase
50 Trussell Technologies, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.90 1.44 2 51.5% Increase
51 Metabolon Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.60 1.44 6 127.1% Increase
52 Northrop Grumman Corporation, United States of America (USA) 2.19 1.43 18 -38.4% Decrease
53 23andMe, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.55 1.36 18 -17.3% Decrease
54 Phillips 66, United States of America (USA) 0.20 1.36 3 540.6% Increase
55 The Chemours Company, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.33 3 0.0% Increase
56 Schlumberger Limited, United States of America (USA) 3.58 1.27 4 -66.5% Decrease
57 GeneDx Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.96 1.26 23 23.1% Increase
58 Genesis Biotechnology Group, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.25 2 0.0% Increase
59 General Atomics, United States of America (USA) 1.03 1.20 8 10.1% Increase
60 Western Digital Corporation, United States of America (USA) 4.20 1.20 4 -73.0% Decrease
61 Momentive, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.20 2 0.0% Increase
61 Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), United States of America (USA) 0.83 1.20 2 35.9% Increase
62 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.76 1.17 2 -37.4% Decrease
62 Predictive Science Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.40 1.17 2 175.3% Increase
63 RTX, United States of America (USA) 1.50 1.11 21 -30.1% Decrease
64 EpiCypher, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.11 7 0.0% Increase
65 KLA-Tencor Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.10 2 0.0% Increase
66 Promega Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.20 1.06 5 400.7% Increase
67 BioNano Genomics, United States of America (USA) 0.91 1.01 5 5.1% Increase
68 Space Science and Technology, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
68 Navitor Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
68 Synlogic, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 3 0.0% Increase
68 Intellectual Ventures Management, LLC, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 2 0.0% Increase
68 Tri Alpha Energy, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
68 Cancer Prevention Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (CPP), United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
68 Advaxis Immunotherapies, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
68 Rigetti Computing, United States of America (USA) 0.11 1.00 1 730.8% Increase
68 Neocera, LLC, United States of America (USA) 0.14 1.00 1 560.8% Increase
68 Dynavax Technologies Corp., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
68 Newomics, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.00 1 0.0% Increase
68 JEOL USA, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.93 1.00 3 1.7% Increase
68 Viridos, Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.30 1.00 1 -59.0% Decrease
68 Geosyntec Consultants, United States of America (USA) 0.94 1.00 1 0.9% Increase
69 Eastman Chemical Company, United States of America (USA) 0.11 1.00 3 745.6% Increase
70 Zymo Research Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.99 3 0.0% Increase
71 Aduro BioTech, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.07 0.98 3 1,193.6% Increase
72 APTIM, United States of America (USA) 0.17 0.96 3 442.8% Increase
73 Living Proof, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.94 2 0.0% Increase
74 Agenus Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.92 2 0.0% Increase
75 CDM Smith Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.40 0.92 4 116.2% Increase
76 Attagene, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.90 1 0.0% Increase
76 Embark Veterinary, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.90 1 0.0% Increase
77 InSilixa, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.90 1 0.0% Increase
78 Nonlinear Control Strategies (NLCSTR), United States of America (USA) 0.40 0.88 3 106.5% Increase
79 Mars, Incorporated (Mars), United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.87 2 0.0% Increase
80 INDIGO Biosciences, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.87 2 0.0% Increase
81 Corona Environmental Consulting, LLC, United States of America (USA) 0.08 0.83 1 844.0% Increase
82 Nion Company, United States of America (USA) 0.00 0.83 3 0.0% Increase
83 Ford Motor Company, United States of America (USA) 0.50 0.82 3 54.8% Increase
84 Avalanche Technology, United States of America (USA) 1.00 0.81 1 -23.3% Decrease

Footnote

Each year, the Nature Index publishes tables based on counts of high-quality research outputs in the previous calendar year. Users please note:

  1. The data behind the tables are based on a relatively small proportion of total research papers, they cover the natural sciences and health sciences only and outputs are non-normalized (that is, they don’t reflect the size of the country or institution, or its overall research output).
  2. The Nature Index is one indicator of institutional research performance. The metrics of Count and Share used to order Nature Index listings are based on an institution’s or country’s publication output in 145 natural-science and health-science journals. The journals were selected on reputation by an independent panel of leading scientists in their fields. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added. Articles from eLife were no longer included in the Nature Index from 2023 after the journal changed its publishing model.
  3. Nature Index recognizes that many other factors must be taken into account when considering research quality and institutional performance; Nature Index metrics alone should not be used to assess institutions or individuals.
  4. Nature Index data and methods are transparent and available under a creative commons licence at nature.com/nature-index/.
  5. Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

The Nature Index database undergoes regular updating, corrections, adjustment of institutional hierarchies, and removal of retracted papers and thus the live website can differ from the frozen research leaders.