Top 10 Best Innovative Pharma Companies to Work For

Top 10 Best Innovative Pharma Companies to Work For

April 13, 2017
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

IDEA Pharma recently announced its seventh Pharmaceutical Innovation Index (PII), which ranks the pharma industry’s “most innovative” companies. On a much broader basis, the PII attempts to answer the question: If you gave the same molecule to two different companies in each phase, which would make the best of it?

Various objective factors considered were speed to market, attrition rate across phases (especially Phase III), reimbursement rates, regulatory approvals, on-market performance and analyst rankings.

Top 10 Best Innovative Pharma Companies to Work For (No particular order)

NUMBER
COMPANY
HEADQUARTERS
JOBS
1
Biogen
Cambridge, Mass.
Jobs
2
AbbVie
North Chicago, Ill.
Jobs
3
Gilead Sciences
Foster City, Calif.
Jobs
4
Johnson & Johnson
New Brunswick, NJ
Jobs
5
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
Osaka, Japan
Jobs
6
Baxter
Deerfield, Ill.
Jobs
7
Merck
Kenilworth, NJ
Jobs
8
Novo Nordisk
Bagsvaerd, Denmark
Jobs
9
Bristol-Myers Squibb
New York City, N.Y.
Jobs
10
Celgene
Summit, NJ
Jobs


1. Biogen

Based in Cambridge, Mass., Biogen is a company that likes to swing for the fences. It has a dominant franchise of drugs for multiple sclerosis (MS). However, it recently branched out and had Spinraza (nusinersen) approved for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). SMA is a rare, autosomal recessive neuromuscular disease characterized by the degeneration of alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord. Biogen also currently has the most-hoped-for Alzheimer’s drug, aducanumab in clinical development. Early results have been positive, but it’ll be a couple years before it completes Phase III.

Biogen has a number of jobs available at any given time. Current job postings include Associate Director of Manufacturing Sciences (Solothurn, Switzerland), Senior Associate I (Large Molecule) at Research Triangle Park, N.C., and an Intern in Biopharmaceutics in Cambridge, Mass.

2. AbbVie

Headquartered in North Chicago, Ill., AbbVie has 28,000 employees worldwide. Its overall focus is on immunology, oncology, neuroscience, virology and general medicine. Most recently, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) granted priority review to AbbVie’s pan-genotypic, ribavirin-free regimen of glecaprevir/pivrentasvir for the treatment of all major genotypes of chronic hepatitis C (HCV).

AbbVie currently has numerous jobs available, including Analytical Chemist (Ireland-Munster-Cork), Associate Director, Clinical Biomarkers and Companion Diagnostics (South San Francisco, Calif.), and Associate Director, Statistics (Illinois, Lake County).

3. Gilead Sciences

Headquartered in Foster City, Calif., Gilead Sciences is best known for its hepatitis C (HCV) franchise and its portfolio of HIV/AIDS drugs, although it has an extensive pipeline for cancer, inflammatory and respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular conditions. Most recently the company announced 144-week data from two Phase III clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of Genvoya for the treatment of HIV-1 infection in treatment-naïve adults.

Gilead has a job posting for a Clinical Program Manager at its Foster City site. Other positions include Senior Research Scientist II, Immuno-Oncology (Foster City) and Associate Product Manager – HIV (Stockley Park, UK).

4. Johnson & Johnson

Headquartered in New Brunswick, NJ, J&J is a biopharmaceutical behemoth with three broad areas: consumer, pharmaceutical and medical devices. In 2016, it employed about 126,400 people and reported full-year sales of $71.9 billion. Despite its size, it’s quite innovative, whether through internal development or acquisitions. In 2016, it acquired Actelion for $30 billion, picking up several drugs for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), including Tracleer, Opsumit and Uptravi. Its own drug, Darzalex (daratumumab) was approved by the FDA in November 2016, combined with lenalidomide and dexamethasone, or bortezomib and dexamethasone, to treat patients with multiple myeloma.

Current jobs include Primary Scientist BA Chemistry, Senior Associate Scientists BA Chemist, and Associate Scientist BA Chemistry, all in South San Francisco, Calif.

5. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company

Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, Takeda is the largest pharmaceutical company in Japan and Asia. On March 14, Takeda, along with Innovation Network Corporation of Japan and MEDIPAL Holdings Corporation, agreed to invest 10 billion yen to create a new biotech company, Scohia Pharma. It will ink a license deal with Takeda for eight of its renal, metabolic and cardiovascular research-and-development projects.

Jobs posted with Takeda USA include Staff Scientist, Immunology Research (San Diego, Calif.), Computational Biology Scientist II (Cambridge, Mass.), and Staff Scientist DMPK-Modeling & Simulation (San Diego, Calif.).

6. Baxter

Baxter is a medical device and products company focused on renal and other devices, including intravenous (IV) solutions, systems and administrative sets, IV infusion parenteral nutrition, perioperative care, pharmacy devices and software, acute renal care, and home and in-center dialysis. On February 28, Baxter and ScinoPharm Taiwan inked a strategic deal to develop, manufacture and commercialize five injectable drugs used in oncology, including lung cancer, multiple myeloma and breast cancer, as well as drugs to treat nausea and vomiting.

Baxter is currently looking for a Medical Director (Deerfield, Ill.), as well as Research Associate II (Round Lake, Ill.) and numerous other Research Associate jobs at multiple locations.

7. Merck

Based in Kenilworth, NJ, Merck is large pharma company with approximately 70,000 employees internationally. The company recently closed on its acquisition of a controlling interest in Vallee S.A., a privately-held producer of animal health products in Brazil.

Career opportunities include Associate Principal Scientist, PPDM – Bioanalytics (San Francisco), Principal Scientist – Cardio-Renal and Metabolic Disease (San Francisco) and Research Associate I – Cardio-Renal and Metabolic Diseases (San Francisco).

8. Novo Nordisk

Headquartered in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, Novo Nordisk is best known as a diabetes company. Underlying the company’s philosophy is what it calls the Triple Bottom Line (TBL), with three pillars—Social Impact, Environmental Responsibility, and Financial Performance. This year, the U.S. branch of the company was named on the Fortune “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for the ninth consecutive year.

Novo Nordisk currently has 408 job opportunities. Examples include Regional Clinical Research Associate (Detroit), Senior Research Scientist – Diabetic Kidney Disease (Seattle, Wash.), and Process Scientist – Cell Culture (Lebanon, N.H.).

9. Bristol-Myers Squibb

Based in New York City, Bristol-Myers Squibb had net sales in 2016 of $19.4 billion, with a long list of well-known products, including Opdivo, Eliquis, Orencia, Yervoy and Sustiva. On March 20, BMY expanded its strategic collaboration deal with CytomX Therapeutics to include another eight targets using CytomX’s proprietary Probody platform for cancer drugs.

Career opportunities include Senior Research Investigator II (Waltham, Mass.), Associate Research Scientists – Immuno-Oncology (Redwood City, Calif.), and Research Investigator – Translational Immuno-Oncology (Princeton, N.J.).

10. Celgene

Headquartered in Summit, N.J., Celgene is focused on cancer and inflammatory diseases via next-generation solutions in protein homeostasis, immune-oncology, epigenetics, immunology and neuro-inflammation. On March 5, the company announced results from a Phase IV UNVEIL clinical trial evaluating OTEZLA in patients with psoriasis. At week 16, patients on the therapy had a significantly greater improvement in mean percentage changes from baseline in the PGAxBSA compared to the placebo group.

Job opportunities include Principal Scientist/Engineer, Formulation and Drug Product Development (Summit, N.J.), Manager, Translational Development Operations (San Francisco), and Principal Scientist, Analytical Development (Summit, N.J.).

Check out the latest Career Insider eNewsletter - April 13, 2017.
Sign up for the free bi-weekly Career Insider eNewsletter.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC