Pfizer, the pharmaceutical company responsible for delivering the first COVID-19 vaccine (in collaboration with BioNTech) approved by the FDA, made $994.80 per second in 2022. This infographic visualizes how much the top 20 pharmaceutical companies in the world made during 2022 per second. It is no secret that pharmaceutical companies are massively profitable; the revenue of the worldwide pharmaceutical market reached a mind-blowing $1.4 trillion that year! Why are pharmaceutical companies so profitable? There are several factors at play. Pharmaceutical companies tend to focus their resources on developing drugs that will be in high-demand, such as those used to treat common chronic conditions. Patents also play a role. A drug parent is legal protection for drug creations that prevent other companies from creating competing drugs. The lack of competition means that companies can set high prices and reap massive profits. One such example is Humira, an immunosuppressive drug that 1.4 million people rely on to treat autoimmune diseases. AbbVie, the creator of Humira, has secured at least 132 patents to protect Humira’s exclusivity. Fortunately, AbbVie finally allowed other companies to release their own versions in 2023, so hopefully the drug becomes more accessible in the future.