TIME last month released its "TIME 100 Most Influential Companies" list, which recognizes the companies and organizations "making an extraordinary impact around the world"—and includes several health care organizations.

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Methodology

In designing its list of most influential companies, TIME solicited nominations across multiple industries—including health care, entertainment, technology, and more—from its editors, correspondents, and various industry experts. Then, TIME assessed each nomination on factors such as "relevance, impact, innovation, leadership, ambition, and success."

The health care companies on the list

The list recognized several health care organizations, including: 

• Bicycle Health, which provides virtual opioid use disorder (OUD) treatments, including medication management, support groups, and at-home drug testing for $199 a month. In 2021, the company's revenue grew 600% year-over-year, and reached almost $10 million. Since early 2019, the company has treated around 14,000 patients.

• Biobot Analytics, which is the first company to analyze human waste on a commercial basis to track Covid-19 case spikes. Its technology detects pathogens and is now being used in over 700 sewage sites that serve over 100 million people.

• Calm, a mindfulness app with 4 million paid subscribers and a $2 billion valuation, that has given 10 million workers access to the app as a mental health benefit. "We're in the middle of a global mental-health crisis," said communications director Alexia Marchetti, "so Calm is focused on helping … as many people as possible."

• Curaleaf, a cannabis producer and distributor. Executive chairman Boris Jordan said cannabis' appeal as a health, wellness, and recreational product could lead the market to outperform the $1.5 trillion global alcohol industry.

• Folx Health, a telemedicine provider that specializes in LGBTQ+ health and wellness. The company's plans start at $59 per month and are available in 33 states. They include services from primary care to medication management.

• GoodRx, which offers users digital coupons for prescription drugs, and has saved users $35 billion since 2011. "We've tried to inject market forces into a business that traditionally hasn't had them," said co-founder and co-CEO Doug Hirsch.

• Moderna, which recently announced that it had no plans to ever enforce the patent on its Covid-19 vaccine in any of the 92 countries that currently receive the shots through a global program—the first pharmaceutical company to do so.

• Oxford Nanopore Technologies, which replaced large, costly lab equipment with smaller, pocket-sized devices that can identify the genetic makeup of an organism, making them an important tool in the quest to detect and stop the spread of emerging Covid-19 variants.

• Pfizer, which late last year released Paxlovid, the first two-drug combination oral antiviral drug intended to treat high-risk Covid-19 patients in the United States. Paxlovid can reduce risk of hospitalization and death by up to 89%. 

• Rendever, a company that uses virtual reality to create "shared experiences" for seniors to combat loneliness and isolation and bolster physical fitness, according to TIME. Rendever's technology is currently used at more than 400 nursing homes throughout Australia, Canada, and the United States.

• Supergoop!, a skin care company that has disrupted the multibillion-dollar industry with the idea that SPF protection should be a fundamental piece of every individual's routine. "It's not about one type of person or lifestyle or gender or skin tone," said CEO Amanda Baldwin. "It's about everyone."

• Walgreens, which throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, had to bolster its technology, worker training, and community outreach to administer 60 million Covid-19 vaccines and 26 million tests. The company's investments are now advancing their push for in-store screenings, health counseling, and other services.

TIME also recognized several companies with significant and expanding interests in health care, including:

• Alphabet
• Amazon
• Apple
• Microsoft
• Walmart

(TIME, 3/30; TIMEmethodology, 3/30; Cision PR Newswire, 3/30)