2020 Research Leaders: Leading corporate institutions

The 2020 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2018 Share 2019 Count 2019 Change in Adjusted Share* 2018–2019
1 F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Switzerland 57.50 47.80 144 -19.6% Decrease
2 Novartis AG, Switzerland 31.42 39.09 143 20.4% Increase
3 IBM, United States of America (USA) 40.65 31.31 92 -25.5% Decrease
4 Merck & Co., Inc., United States of America (USA) 28.91 30.65 83 2.6% Increase
5 AstraZeneca plc, United Kingdom (UK) 30.10 30.15 139 -3.1% Decrease
6 Alphabet Inc., United States of America (USA) 21.49 20.71 66 -6.7% Decrease
7 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Japan 16.56 17.60 29 2.8% Increase
8 Pfizer Inc., United States of America (USA) 21.16 17.53 63 -19.8% Decrease
9 Toyota Group, Japan 9.53 16.79 38 70.6% Increase
10 Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), United States of America (USA) 18.62 16.50 48 -14.2% Decrease
11 Johnson & Johnson, United States of America (USA) 9.85 15.50 64 52.2% Increase
12 GNS Science, New Zealand 15.43 15.45 80 -3.1% Decrease
13 China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), China 12.83 14.16 223 6.8% Increase
14 Amgen Inc., United States of America (USA) 17.50 12.62 63 -30.2% Decrease
15 GSK, United Kingdom (UK) 18.04 12.46 73 -33.1% Decrease
16 FiberHome Technologies Group, China 10.37 11.83 104 10.4% Increase
17 Samsung Group, South Korea 15.72 10.36 60 -36.2% Decrease
18 BGI, China 6.83 10.33 52 46.3% Increase
19 Microsoft Corporation, United States of America (USA) 13.73 9.50 61 -33.0% Decrease
20 Dow, United States of America (USA) 14.57 8.92 49 -40.7% Decrease
21 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., United States of America (USA) 11.66 8.87 55 -26.4% Decrease
22 AbbVie Inc., United States of America (USA) 7.06 7.88 29 8.1% Increase
23 Eli Lilly and Company, United States of America (USA) 5.93 7.69 50 25.3% Increase
24 Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany 5.49 7.63 25 34.6% Increase
25 Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil), United States of America (USA) 8.60 7.27 27 -18.3% Decrease
26 Leidos Holdings, Inc., United States of America (USA) 6.30 7.19 91 10.4% Increase
27 BASF SE, Germany 8.75 6.53 38 -27.7% Decrease
28 Bruker Corporation, United States of America (USA) 6.18 6.39 35 0.1% Increase
29 Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan 6.49 5.70 30 -15.0% Decrease
30 Bayer AG, Germany 5.51 5.68 30 -0.3% Decrease
31 Waters Corporation, United States of America (USA) 2.45 5.36 15 111.7% Increase
32 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 8.00 5.35 19 -35.3% Decrease
33 Toshiba Corporation, Japan 5.28 4.85 7 -11.3% Decrease
34 Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd., China 6.03 4.79 22 -23.1% Decrease
35 China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina), China 2.97 4.74 22 54.2% Increase
36 Chevron Corporation, United States of America (USA) 1.66 4.71 20 174.7% Increase
37 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Japan 6.46 4.71 17 -29.4% Decrease
38 Sanofi, France 7.21 4.69 38 -37.0% Decrease
39 Moderna, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.68 4.67 7 567.8% Increase
40 JEOL Ltd., Japan 3.13 4.60 26 42.1% Increase
41 Thales S.A., France 4.36 4.54 37 0.8% Increase
42 Norwegian Research Centre AS (NORCE), Norway 3.68 4.13 57 8.7% Increase
43 Biogen Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.00 4.04 17 95.2% Increase
44 UCB S.A., Belgium 5.32 3.72 24 -32.3% Decrease
45 Shimadzu Corporation, Japan 3.38 3.69 11 5.5% Increase
46 China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), China 6.69 3.66 30 -47.1% Decrease
47 Shanghai Jiahua Poly Battery Technology Co., Ltd., China 4.25 3.59 11 -18.2% Decrease
48 Nestlé S.A., Switzerland 1.19 3.45 10 179.2% Increase
49 China National Tobacco Company (CNTC), China 1.88 3.44 8 77.2% Increase
50 Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI), United States of America (USA) 7.95 3.37 21 -59.0% Decrease
51 Northrop Grumman Corporation, United States of America (USA) 1.43 3.30 19 123.3% Increase
52 ELI-HU Nonprofit Ltd., Hungary 0.85 3.22 15 268.4% Increase
53 Ford Motor Company, United States of America (USA) 0.82 3.21 6 279.0% Increase
54 Sinopec Corporation, China 1.83 3.20 12 68.7% Increase
55 Loki Incorporated, United States of America (USA) 0.35 3.15 4 770.9% Increase
56 Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, United States of America (USA) 0.78 3.07 10 281.5% Increase
57 Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia 1.78 3.05 12 65.7% Increase
58 Koninklijke DSM N.V. (DSM), Netherlands 0.15 3.00 11 1,897.9% Increase
59 GATS Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.02 2.94 10 41.2% Increase
60 Center for Nanotechnology GmbH (CeNTech GmbH), Germany 3.09 2.92 19 -8.4% Decrease
61 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd. (NIWA), New Zealand 5.01 2.88 38 -44.4% Decrease
62 RTX, United States of America (USA) 1.11 2.84 30 147.1% Increase
63 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 4.08 2.79 15 -33.8% Decrease
64 Techint Group, Italy 2.80 2.78 12 -3.7% Decrease
65 Danaher Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.52 2.75 11 415.8% Increase
66 23andMe, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.36 2.72 15 93.4% Increase
67 Rigaku Corporation, Japan 2.37 2.70 16 10.3% Increase
68 Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.17 2.64 6 118.8% Increase
69 China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), China 3.06 2.63 8 -17.0% Decrease
70 Novo Nordisk A/S, Denmark 3.33 2.59 14 -24.8% Decrease
71 Illumina, Inc., United States of America (USA) 3.22 2.58 24 -22.6% Decrease
72 Sangamo Therapeutics Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.36 2.53 3 588.0% Increase
73 Lockheed Martin Corporation, United States of America (USA) 1.73 2.51 22 40.0% Increase
74 Fluidigm Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.17 2.36 10 1,270.3% Increase
75 Mitsubishi Group, Japan 3.03 2.35 19 -24.7% Decrease
76 New England Biolabs, Inc. (NEB), United States of America (USA) 2.68 2.32 11 -16.3% Decrease
77 GeneDx Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.26 2.32 30 78.3% Increase
78 Shell plc, United Kingdom (UK) 3.22 2.31 11 -30.5% Decrease
79 H. Lundbeck A/S, Denmark 0.25 2.31 6 806.6% Increase
80 General Atomics, United States of America (USA) 1.20 2.26 6 81.4% Increase
81 HP Inc., United States of America (USA) 4.05 2.25 9 -46.2% Decrease
82 Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Sweden 1.65 2.24 14 31.3% Increase
83 Aerodyne Research, Inc. (ARI), United States of America (USA) 1.73 2.18 16 21.9% Increase
84 Hitachi, Ltd., Japan 6.23 2.16 16 -66.5% Decrease
85 Eisai Co., Ltd., Japan 4.53 2.16 7 -53.9% Decrease
86 Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., Japan 1.55 2.02 14 25.8% Increase
87 KWH Water B.V., Netherlands 1.74 2.02 13 12.0% Increase
88 Piramal Enterprises Limited, India 2.00 2.00 2 -3.2% Decrease
88 Cellectis SA, France 0.00 2.00 2 0.0% Increase
88 Soraa Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 2.00 2 0.0% Increase
89 LG Corporation, South Korea 1.26 1.99 13 52.3% Increase
90 Gilead Sciences, Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.29 1.99 6 -16.1% Decrease
91 China Energy Investment Corporation (China Energy), China 0.69 1.96 5 176.1% Increase
92 Nokia Corporation, Finland 0.64 1.96 12 197.0% Increase
93 L'Oréal International, France 0.29 1.92 3 551.2% Increase
94 Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.64 1.92 4 13.6% Increase
95 10x Genomics, United States of America (USA) 0.11 1.92 9 1,660.3% Increase
96 Synfuels China Technology Co., Ltd., China 2.57 1.90 11 -28.7% Decrease
97 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China 5.09 1.87 13 -64.4% Decrease
98 BP plc, United Kingdom (UK) 0.71 1.82 7 147.2% Increase

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.