How the world’s biggest pharma and biotech companies paid their typical worker in 2023
Top Paying Companies
- Gilead Sciences had the highest median employee salary at $205,866
- Amgen was second at $166,322
- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals was third at $165,843
Typical Salary Ranges
- Median employee pay at large drugmakers generally ranged from around $100,000 to over $200,000
- Some companies like Amneal Pharmaceuticals had much lower median pay around $12,000
CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios
- Sarepta Therapeutics had the highest ratio at 494:
1
- Other companies with high ratios included Amneal (413:1), Thermo Fisher Scientific (363:
1)
- Even companies with higher median pay like Gilead had ratios over 100:
1
Salary Trends
- Overall average salaries across all industry settings increased 4.2% to $134,790 in 2023
- Retail pharmacist salaries grew 3.4%, but did not keep pace with inflation
- Hospital and physician office pharmacist salaries grew over 4%
Other Compensation Factors
- Many companies provided bonuses and stock awards in addition to base salaries
- Location (e.g. San Francisco vs. elsewhere) impacted compensation levels
- Smaller biotech companies tended to offer higher median wages than large pharma
The data shows significant variation in worker pay across the industry, with top biotech firms generally offering the highest compensation to typical employees.