Fortune - USA (2020-12)

HEALTH & MEDICINE

Veeva

Systems

2 U.S. (VEEV, $274)

The cl oud-comput-

ing revolution has at

last come for life sci-

ences, thanks to

Veeva’s industry-

targeted offerings

that help companies

manage data-inten-

sive processes such

as clinical trials, reg-

ulatory submissions,

and sales operations.

The company, which

counts leading bio-

pharma companies

like Pfizer, GSK, and

Moderna as custom-

ers, has a market cap

of $41 billion and has

grown sales at a ro-

bust 26% annual rate

over the past three

years.

DexCom

8 U.S. (DXCM, $316)

DexCom makes

medical devices that

regularly track users’

glucose levels and

can send those read-

ings to a smart-

phone. The technol-

ogy—called

continuous glucose

monitoring, or

CGM—offers an al-

ternative to people

with diabetes who

have long had to

measure their blood

sugar through fin-

ger-sticking. Adop-

tion of DexCom’s de-

vices drove revenue

up 43% last year, but

the company is find-

ing a new market

during COVID-19.

Hospital staffs have

been using the de-

vices to remotely

monitor COVID pa-

tients’ glucose lev-

els. Over the past

five years, the stock

is up 266%.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals

16 U.S. (VRTX, $215)

n the fall of 2019, Vertex launched Trikafta, I

the latest of its breakthrough therapies for

people with cystic fibrosis. Capable of treat-

ing up to 90% of those who suffer from the

progressive, life-threatening disease, the drug

has already been used to treat thousands of

patients in the U.S. and recently won approval

in the EU. The company’s sales—$4.2 billion

in 2019—have averaged 35% annual growth

over the past three years. One setback: The

biotech’s stock fell 23% in October after it

scrapped a new drug in Phase II clinical trials.

TOTALLY TUBULAR

A Vertex manufacturing facility in Boston.

WuXi AppTec

12 CHINA (SS: 6 0325 9, $17)

Shenzhen Mindray

Bio-Medical Electronics

21 CHINA (SZ: 3 00760 , $53)

Align Technology

26 U.S. (ALGN, $446)

Shanghai-based

WuXi helps global

drugmakers discover,

develop, and manu-

facture small mole-

cule drugs as well as

cell and gene thera-

pies. Serving the

world’s top drugmak-

ers, WuXi is a leader

in the pharma out-

sourcing sector,

which continues to

boom. The world

has looked to the

pharma sector this

year to develop treat-

ments and vaccines

for COVID-19. WuXi

has played a part in

responding to the

pandemic; it joined a

global philanthropic

alliance to discover

novel antiviral thera-

peutics for COVID-19.

M indray is the big-

gest medical device

company in China by

far, with triple the

market value of the

sector’s second-

largest firm. The

global surge in de-

mand for ventilators

during the initial

wave of the COVID-19

pandemic saw

Mindray ramp up

production, first for

domestic needs, as

the virus ravaged

The pandemic initially caused a lot of frowns

at medical-device maker Align Technology as

dentists’ offices around the globe temporarily

shut down. But by October, the company was

reporting record sales of its 3D scanners,

which are used by dentists and orthodontists,

as well as the company’s popular Invisalign

clear plastic teeth straighteners. Third-quarter

sales were up 21% over the year earlier. Align

has long dominated the clear-aligners market

with Invisalign, which is increasingly challeng-

ing the hegemony of traditional metal braces.

Now Align is seeking to fend off competitors

with high-profile endorsements from teen in-

fluencers, including TikTok superstar Charli

D’Amelio and Black-ish actor Marsai Martin.

Wuhan, and then

globally, as COVID-19

spread around the

world. Sales shot up

accordingly. China

largely has the pan-

demic under control

right now, but

Mindray is still get-

ting new orders in its

home market, thanks

to a $6.6 billion gov-

ernment stimulus

package to upgrade

ICU facilities across

the country.

THE FUTURE 50 • THE LIST 2021

VERTEX: COURTESY OF VERTEX PHARMACEUTICALS