The ranking, conducted by an independent research firm commissioned by the business office of the journal, Science, will appear in a special supplement of the 24 October issue.
Similar to a 2002 Science ranking of biopharma employers, the 2003 survey sought to identify the companies with the best reputations as employers, based 910 survey responses from Science readers.
Survey responses were analyzed by Hughes Research Worldwide, which used a mathematical process to assign a unique score to rate the employer reputation of some 323 companies, taking into account 42 specific characteristics or attributes.
Genentech Inc. and Johnson & Johnson earned the Number One and Number Two spots on the list, respectively, meaning that they were in the "first tier" of companies, with rankings of 98 to 100. Genentech Inc. was described as offering a research-driven environment and quality management, while treating employees with respect. Johnson & Johnson also was described as research-driven, with a clear vision of where the firm is heading and a culture of respect for employees.
Firms showing up in the top 20 slots on the list were as follows:
1. Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA
2. Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ
3. Amgen, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA
4. Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY
5. Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ
6. AstraZeneca PLC, London, United Kingdom
7. Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN
8. Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland
9. Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Cambridge, MA
10. Genzyme Corporation, Cambridge, MA
11. Biogen, Inc., Cambridge, MA
12. Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL
13. Aventis, Strasbourg, France
14. GlaxoSmithKline, London, United Kingdom
15. Chiron Corp., Emeryville, CA
16. Roche, Basel, Switzerland
17. Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Collegeville, PA
18. Schering-Plough Corp., Kenilworth, NJ
19. Bayer Healthcare, Bayer AG, Leverkusen, Germany
20. Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York, NY
Reporters may request copies of the Science ranking through the AAAS Office of Public Programs, (202) 326-6440, scipak@aaas.org. Information within the ranking is embargoed, and may not be published, broadcast, posted online, or otherwise released into the public domain, until 2 p.m. Eastern Time Thursday, 23 October, 2003.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world's largest general scientific society, and publisher of the journal, Science (www.sciencemag.org). AAAS was founded in 1848, and serves some 265 affiliated societies and academies of science, serving 10 million individuals. Science has the largest paid circulation of any peer-reviewed general science journal in the world, with an estimated total readership of one million. The non-profit AAAS (www.aaas.org) is open to all and fulfills its mission to "advance science and serve society" through initiatives in science policy; international programs; science education; and more. For the latest research news, log onto EurekAlert!, www.eurekalert.org, the premier science-news Web site, a service of AAAS.
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