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

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Position Institution Share 2018 Share 2019 Count 2019 Change in Share 2018–2019
1 Roche, Switzerland 57.49 47.80 144
-16.9%
2 Novartis, Switzerland 30.49 38.89 140
27.6%
3 IBM, United States of America (USA) 40.65 31.31 92
-23.0%
4 Merck & Co, United States of America (USA) 28.72 30.60 82
6.6%
5 AstraZeneca, United Kingdom (UK) 30.10 30.15 139
0.2%
6 Alphabet, United States of America (USA) 21.49 20.71 66
-3.6%
7 Earth Sciences New Zealand, New Zealand 20.45 18.33 115
-10.3%
8 NTT, Japan 16.56 17.60 29
6.2%
9 Pfizer, United States of America (USA) 21.11 17.53 63
-17.0%
10 Toyota, Japan 9.53 16.79 38
76.3%
11 Bristol-Myers Squibb, United States of America (USA) 18.59 16.54 48
-11.0%
12 Johnson & Johnson, United States of America (USA) 9.85 15.50 64
57.4%
13 CanSinoBIO, China 10.11 12.56 85
24.2%
14 GSK, United Kingdom (UK) 18.04 12.45 72
-31.0%
15 Amgen, United States of America (USA) 17.38 12.42 59
-28.5%
16 Samsung Group, South Korea 15.72 10.36 60
-34.1%
17 BGI, China 6.83 10.33 52
51.2%
18 Microsoft, United States of America (USA) 13.73 9.50 61
-30.8%
19 Thermo Fisher Scientific, United States of America (USA) 11.66 8.84 54
-24.1%
20 AbbVie, United States of America (USA) 7.06 7.88 29
11.7%
21 Lilly, United States of America (USA) 5.93 7.69 50
29.5%
22 Boehringer Ingelheim, Germany 5.49 7.63 25
39.1%
23 ExxonMobil, United States of America (USA) 8.60 7.27 27
-15.5%
24 Leidos, United States of America (USA) 6.30 7.19 91
14.1%
25 Bruker, United States of America (USA) 6.31 6.73 38
6.8%
26 BASF, Germany 7.94 6.45 36
-18.7%
27 Dow, United States of America (USA) 10.13 6.44 34
-36.4%
28 Bayer, Germany 6.32 5.76 31
-8.8%
29 Waters, United States of America (USA) 2.45 5.36 15
118.8%
30 Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, United States of America (USA) 8.00 5.35 19
-33.1%
31 Sanofi, France 7.21 4.98 39
-31.0%
32 Sinochem Holdings, China 3.01 4.94 23
63.8%
33 Toshiba, Japan 5.28 4.85 7
-8.3%
34 Jinchuan Group, China 6.03 4.80 22
-20.5%
35 Chevron, United States of America (USA) 1.66 4.71 20
183.9%
36 Takeda, Japan 6.46 4.71 17
-27.1%
37 Moderna, United States of America (USA) 0.68 4.67 7
590.1%
38 JEOL, Japan 3.13 4.60 26
46.9%
39 Thales, France 4.36 4.54 37
4.2%
40 NORCE, Norway 3.68 4.13 57
12.3%
41 Biogen, United States of America (USA) 1.88 4.03 16
114.1%
42 UCB, Belgium 5.32 3.72 24
-30.1%
43 Shimadzu, Japan 3.38 3.69 11
9.1%
44 China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), China 6.69 3.66 30
-45.3%
45 DSM-Firmenich, Switzerland 0.29 3.57 13
1,142.4%
46 Nestlé, Switzerland 1.19 3.45 10
188.6%
47 China National Tobacco Company (CNTC), China 1.88 3.44 8
83.1%
48 SSAI, United States of America (USA) 7.95 3.37 21
-57.6%
49 Northrop Grumman, United States of America (USA) 1.43 3.30 19
130.7%
50 Ford, United States of America (USA) 0.82 3.21 6
291.7%
51 Sinopec, China 1.83 3.20 12
74.3%
52 Loki Incorporated, United States of America (USA) 0.35 3.15 4
800.0%
53 Vertex Pharmaceuticals, United States of America (USA) 0.76 3.07 10
301.9%
54 Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia 1.78 3.05 12
71.2%
55 GATS, United States of America (USA) 2.02 2.94 10
45.9%
56 CeNTech, Germany 3.09 2.92 19
-5.3%
57 RTX, United States of America (USA) 1.11 2.84 30
155.3%
58 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, United States of America (USA) 4.08 2.79 15
-31.6%
59 Danaher, United States of America (USA) 0.52 2.75 11
433.0%
60 Rigaku, Japan 2.37 2.70 16
14.0%
61 Alnylam, United States of America (USA) 1.17 2.64 6
126.1%
62 China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC), China 3.06 2.63 8
-14.2%
63 Novo Nordisk, Denmark 3.33 2.59 14
-22.3%
64 Illumina, United States of America (USA) 3.22 2.58 24
-20.0%
65 Sangamo Therapeutics, United States of America (USA) 0.36 2.53 3
611.0%
66 Lockheed Martin, United States of America (USA) 1.73 2.51 22
44.7%
67 China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), China 0.86 2.41 15
181.2%
68 Shanghai Zijian Chemical Technology, China 2.83 2.39 11
-15.5%
68 Sinopoly, China 2.90 2.39 11
-17.6%
69 Fluidigm Corporation, United States of America (USA) 0.17 2.36 10
1,316.1%
70 GeneDx, United States of America (USA) 1.26 2.32 30
84.2%
71 Shell, United Kingdom (UK) 3.22 2.31 11
-28.2%
72 Lundbeck, Denmark 0.25 2.31 6
836.9%
73 General Atomics, United States of America (USA) 1.20 2.26 6
87.5%
74 HP, United States of America (USA) 4.05 2.25 9
-44.4%
75 Aerodyne Research, United States of America (USA) 1.73 2.18 16
25.9%
76 L'Oréal, France 0.64 2.17 4
239.6%
77 Hitachi, Japan 6.23 2.16 16
-65.4%
78 Eisai, Japan 4.47 2.16 7
-51.7%
79 Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (MCHC), Japan 2.35 2.05 16
-12.7%
80 Daiichi Sankyo, Japan 1.55 2.02 14
30.0%
81 KWR Water Research Institute, Netherlands 1.74 2.02 13
15.7%
82 Corteva Agriscience, United States of America (USA) 2.14 2.00 7
-6.5%
83 Soraa Inc., United States of America (USA) N/A 2.00 2 N/A
83 Cellectis, France N/A 2.00 2 N/A
83 Piramal Enterprises Limited, India 2.00 2.00 2
0.0%
84 LG, South Korea 1.26 1.99 13
57.4%
85 Gilead, United States of America (USA) 2.29 1.99 6
-13.3%
86 CHN Energy, China 0.69 1.96 5
185.3%
87 Nokia, Finland 0.64 1.96 12
206.9%
88 Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 1.64 1.92 4
17.4%
89 10x Genomics, United States of America (USA) 0.11 1.92 9
1,719.1%
90 Synfuels China, China 2.57 1.90 11
-26.3%
91 China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), China 5.09 1.87 13
-63.2%
92 CSSC, China 1.77 1.86 120
4.9%
93 BP, United Kingdom (UK) 0.71 1.82 7
155.5%
94 D. E. Shaw Research, United States of America (USA) 2.30 1.82 2
-20.9%
95 Merck Group, Germany 3.84 1.80 14
-53.2%
96 Xanadu, Canada 2.25 1.78 4
-20.8%
97 Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, Inc., United States of America (USA) 0.31 1.75 2
468.5%
98 Panasonic, Japan 1.50 1.73 5
15.4%
99 JANUS, United States of America (USA) 3.33 1.70 8
-49.0%
100 Ilika plc, United Kingdom (UK) N/A 1.65 2 N/A
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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 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/territory’s publication output in 82 high-quality natural science publications. The publications were chosen by an independent group of researchers. The list is reviewed periodically and journals may be removed or added.
  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 the data in the above table is published 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 research leaders tables.

Research Leaders tables from previous years are also updated annually to reflect any changes to the database. This means rankings and metrics may differ from the table when first released.


Numerical information only (in the tables above) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International.