2021 Research Leaders: Leading corporate institutions

The 2021 Research Leaders are based on Nature Index data from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020.

Table criteria

Position Institution Share 2019 Share 2020 Count 2020 Change in Adjusted Share* 2019–2020
1 F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Switzerland 47.80 59.77 144 20.5% Increase
2 Merck & Co., Inc., United States of America (USA) 30.65 32.40 81 1.9% Increase
3 IBM, United States of America (USA) 31.31 30.15 87 -7.1% Decrease
4 AstraZeneca plc, United Kingdom (UK) 30.15 27.57 135 -11.8% Decrease
5 Alphabet Inc., United States of America (USA) 20.71 26.61 80 23.9% Increase
6 Novartis AG, Switzerland 39.09 24.63 97 -39.3% Decrease
7 GSK, United Kingdom (UK) 12.46 20.43 87 58.0% Increase
8 Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), United States of America (USA) 16.50 18.88 54 10.3% Increase
9 Pfizer Inc., United States of America (USA) 17.53 17.16 64 -5.6% Decrease
10 Toyota Group, Japan 16.79 15.39 38 -11.6% Decrease
11 Samsung Group, South Korea 10.36 15.09 76 40.5% Increase
12 Johnson & Johnson, United States of America (USA) 15.50 14.88 60 -7.4% Decrease
13 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 5.35 13.98 30 151.7% Increase
14 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), Japan 17.60 12.59 24 -31.0% Decrease
15 Amgen Inc., United States of America (USA) 12.62 12.30 49 -6.1% Decrease
16 GNS Science, New Zealand 15.45 11.94 67 -25.5% Decrease
17 China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC), China 14.16 11.92 273 -18.8% Decrease
18 Microsoft Corporation, United States of America (USA) 9.50 11.18 48 13.4% Increase
19 Formosa Plastics Group, Taiwan 5.70 10.38 35 75.5% Increase
20 Dow, United States of America (USA) 8.92 10.26 45 10.8% Increase
21 Bruker Corporation, United States of America (USA) 6.39 10.21 56 53.9% Increase
22 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., United States of America (USA) 8.87 9.64 60 4.8% Increase
23 Sanofi, France 4.69 9.58 34 96.8% Increase
24 FiberHome Technologies Group, China 11.83 9.49 108 -22.7% Decrease
25 Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil), United States of America (USA) 7.27 8.77 32 16.3% Increase
26 Hitachi, Ltd., Japan 2.16 8.52 32 280.8% Increase
27 BASF SE, Germany 6.53 8.45 43 24.6% Increase
28 Eli Lilly and Company, United States of America (USA) 7.69 8.38 39 5.1% Increase
29 China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), China 3.66 8.25 47 117.4% Increase
30 Leidos Holdings, Inc., United States of America (USA) 7.19 7.63 98 2.3% Increase
31 BGI, China 10.33 7.57 51 -29.4% Decrease
32 Novo Nordisk A/S, Denmark 2.59 6.88 29 156.2% Increase
33 China National Chemical Corporation (ChemChina), China 4.74 6.67 23 35.9% Increase
34 Bayer AG, Germany 5.68 6.31 35 7.2% Increase
35 AbbVie Inc., United States of America (USA) 7.88 6.27 25 -23.3% Decrease
36 Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany 7.63 5.74 21 -27.4% Decrease
37 Biogen Inc., United States of America (USA) 4.04 5.26 16 25.6% Increase
38 WuXi AppTec, China 1.59 4.78 18 190.2% Increase
39 National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd. (NIWA), New Zealand 2.88 4.75 39 59.0% Increase
40 Waters Corporation, United States of America (USA) 5.36 4.75 14 -14.6% Decrease
41 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China 1.87 4.71 26 142.3% Increase
42 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.79 4.60 15 59.1% Increase
43 Gilead Sciences, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.99 4.58 15 122.3% Increase
44 Norwegian Research Centre AS (NORCE), Norway 4.13 4.30 58 0.3% Increase
45 Total S.A., France 1.39 4.25 19 195.1% Increase
46 Shell plc, United Kingdom (UK) 2.31 4.14 19 72.7% Increase
47 Chengdu Institute of Organic Chemistry (CIOC), CAS, China 1.22 3.81 12 201.4% Increase
48 BioNTech AG, Germany 0.00 3.56 12 0.0% Increase
49 Thales S.A., France 4.54 3.51 41 -25.4% Decrease
50 Danaher Corporation, United States of America (USA) 2.75 3.45 15 20.7% Increase
51 UCB S.A., Belgium 3.72 3.43 21 -11.0% Decrease
52 Intel Corporation, United States of America (USA) 1.56 3.41 17 111.2% Increase
53 NHK Science and Technology Research Laboratories (NHK STRL), Japan 0.50 3.37 5 550.4% Increase
54 Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Japan 4.71 3.27 17 -33.1% Decrease
55 Science Systems and Applications, Inc. (SSAI), United States of America (USA) 3.37 3.26 28 -6.8% Decrease
56 Techint Group, Italy 2.78 3.22 21 11.7% Increase
57 Shimadzu Corporation, Japan 3.69 3.20 15 -16.5% Decrease
58 Vir Biotechnology, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.44 3.11 9 588.3% Increase
59 Denali Therapeutics Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.12 3.10 6 167.7% Increase
60 China National Tobacco Company (CNTC), China 3.44 3.09 19 -13.2% Decrease
61 Mitsubishi Group, Japan 2.35 3.08 16 26.3% Increase
62 NorthWest Research Associates, Inc. (NWRA), United States of America (USA) 0.51 3.06 42 478.3% Increase
63 23andMe, Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.72 3.06 16 8.5% Increase
64 Panasonic Corporation, Japan 1.73 2.88 7 60.3% Increase
65 Moderna, Inc., United States of America (USA) 4.67 2.86 5 -41.1% Decrease
66 KWH Water B.V., Netherlands 2.02 2.81 16 34.3% Increase
67 Aerodyne Research, Inc. (ARI), United States of America (USA) 2.18 2.79 16 23.8% Increase
68 LG Corporation, South Korea 1.99 2.76 12 33.9% Increase
69 HP Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.25 2.72 5 16.5% Increase
70 Center for Nanotechnology GmbH (CeNTech GmbH), Germany 2.92 2.70 17 -10.9% Decrease
71 Genomics England Ltd., United Kingdom (UK) 0.22 2.61 10 1,048.3% Increase
72 Nference Inc, United States of America (USA) 0.00 2.59 4 0.0% Increase
73 Rigaku Corporation, Japan 2.70 2.47 17 -12.0% Decrease
74 HitGen Inc., China 1.00 2.46 5 137.2% Increase
75 Schlumberger Limited, United States of America (USA) 0.21 2.43 9 1,011.4% Increase
76 CETHIK Group Corporation, China 0.00 2.39 8 0.0% Increase
77 Solvay S.A., Belgium 1.50 2.33 10 49.9% Increase
78 RTX, United States of America (USA) 2.84 2.33 29 -21.2% Decrease
79 Beam Therapeutics Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.08 2.30 4 2,564.0% Increase
80 Unilever, United Kingdom (UK) 1.13 2.27 10 93.9% Increase
81 Nestlé S.A., Switzerland 3.45 2.20 8 -38.6% Decrease
82 Jinchuan Group Co., Ltd., China 4.79 2.19 14 -55.9% Decrease
83 Adroit Materials, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.56 2.17 6 277.4% Increase
84 Promega Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.18 2.13 5 1,014.6% Increase
85 Universal Display Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.00 2.12 5 0.0% Increase
86 General Atomics, United States of America (USA) 2.26 2.12 9 -9.7% Decrease
87 Lockheed Martin Corporation, United States of America (USA) 2.51 2.09 18 -19.4% Decrease
88 China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), China 2.63 2.09 11 -23.2% Decrease
89 Meta Platforms, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.29 2.09 4 55.8% Increase
90 FujiFilm Corporation, Japan 1.05 2.06 7 88.6% Increase
91 Corning Incorporated, United States of America (USA) 1.50 2.04 7 31.0% Increase
92 Illumina, Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.58 2.04 16 -23.8% Decrease
93 GATS Inc., United States of America (USA) 2.94 2.02 7 -33.6% Decrease
94 Enamine Ltd., Ukraine 0.95 1.96 5 99.7% Increase
95 Scholar Rock, United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.95 2 0.0% Increase
96 XtalPi Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.00 1.95 4 0.0% Increase
97 Equinor ASA, Norway 0.86 1.93 7 114.8% Increase
98 Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR), New Zealand 0.80 1.89 4 128.1% Increase
99 Sinopec Corporation, China 3.20 1.89 22 -43.1% Decrease
100 Earlham Institute (EI), United Kingdom (UK) 1.26 1.88 18 43.7% 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.