Methodology

For the list, Fast Company's writers and editors "sought out groundbreaking businesses across 58 industries and every region of the world."

Each company was judged according to four criteria:

• Innovation: Did the company have a clear innovation (or innovations) that set it apart from other companies and current trends?
• Impact: Did the innovation have a measured impact on the company and its industry?
• Timeliness: Did the innovation happen within the past 12 months? If not, did the company provide evidence of meaningful advances this year?
• Relevance: Did the company explain how the innovation connects to current events or larger issues?

This year's list recognized 606 organizations "that are reshaping industries and culture," according to Fast Company.

The most innovative companies in the world

In the top 50 most innovative companies, there were four companies that fell into the publication's "healthcare," "medicine and therapeutics," and "wellness and personal care" categories:

• Novo Nordisk (No. 2) for the development of the semaglutide-based drugs Wegovy and Ozempic
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (No. 11) for developing Casgevy, a CRISPR-based drug used to treat sickle cell disease
• Hyrox (No. 41) for developing a competitive fitness program partnering with gyms around the country
• Viz.ai (No. 43) for using artificial intelligence (AI) to examine medical imagery and patient tests and diagnose critical conditions, such as pulmonary embolisms or stroke
• Bicycle Health (No. 44) for helping formerly incarcerated people struggling with opioid use disorder

Fast Company also ranked the top 10 innovative companies in each sector. In the "biotech" sector, the 10 most innovative companies were:

1. Insilico Medicine for using generative AI to develop new treatments
2. ElevateBio for its gene-editing platform used to "catch genetic disorders at the root"
3. Personalis for its whole-genome sequencing test used to detect cancer
4. Exscientia for using AI to personalize cancer treatments
5. Rocket Pharmaceuticals for developing multiple promising gene therapy candidates
6. Guardant Health for developing a tool to find cancer biomarkers and develop new drugs
7. Inato for working to bring diverse patients into 10 of the top 30 pharmaceutical companies' clinical trials
8. Elucidata for developing a cloud platform that saves drug discovery researchers time and money
9. Maravai LifeSciences for developing a test that makes it easier to verify the safety of immunotherapy drugs
10. Emerald Cloud Lab for its cloud-based lab services that can improve drug discovery

In the "healthcare" sector, the top 10 most innovative companies were:

1. Bicycle Health
2. Children's Health for its training of physicians to treat children's mental health
3. Equip for expanding eating disorder treatment to patients of all ages
4. Galileo for making healthcare affordable for small businesses
5. Included Health for providing virtual primary care and testing hybrid care models
6. Thermo Fisher Scientific for developing a test to detect preeclampsia, a leading cause of maternal death
7. Devoted Health for its work bringing personalized care to older patients
8. Function Health for its work making lab tests a resource for patients
9. WellTheory for its work bringing comprehensive autoimmune care to enterprise clients
10. TBD Health for expanding its mail-order STD tests and offering PrEP starter kits

In the "medical devices" sector, the top 10 most innovative companies were:

1. Cresilon for its hemostatic gel that helps treat blood clots without pressure
2. Clarius Mobile Health for its AI-driven tools used on handheld ultrasounds
3. Hemosonics for its ability to bring accurate blood testing to the surgery suite
4. Podimetrics for its development of a way to forecast complications that could lead to diabetic foot amputations
5. Audicus for its direct-to-consumer hearing aid subscription service
6. IvWatch for its IV-monitoring technology
7. Radius XR for its portable headset that provides flexibility for eye exams
8. Cumulus Neuroscience for its EEG headset and tablet used to test brain function
9. GrayMatters Health for its Prism treatment that can help treat PTSD
10. Proprio for its ability to create 3D views of the surgical field, which reduces the need for X-rays during surgery

In the "medicine and therapeutics" sector, the top 10 most innovative companies were:

1. Novo Nordisk
2. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
3. Eisai for its work developing the Alzheimer's drug Leqembi
4. Sage Therapeutics for its development of Zurzuvae, the first pill-based treatment for postpartum depression
5. Perrigo for its development of Opill, the first daily oral contraceptive available over-the-counter
6. Sanofi for its development of a new way to treat hemophilia and a new vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus
7. Astellas for its development of Veozah, the first treatment focused on reducing the frequency and severity of hot flashes in patients with menopause
8. Blueprint Medicines for being the first company to offer a precision treatment for indolent systemic mastocytosis, a rare blood disorder
9. Amgen for its development of Wezlana, the first interchangeable biosimilar to Stelara, a drug that treats multiple autoimmune conditions
10. BeiGene for its development of Brukinsa, a drug that can be used to treat lymphocytic leukemia

In the "wellness and personal care" sector, the top 10 most innovative companies were:

1. Hyrox
2. Julie for its ad campaigns addressing the stigma of emergency contraceptives
3. Wellow for its compression socks made to fit various body sizes
4. Hatch for its circadian alarm clock Restore 2 that uses light and sound to relax the mind before bed and slowly wake it up in the morning
5. Therabody for its RecoveryTherm Cube, a therapeutic wearable that delivers heat and cold therapy to a joint or muscle in pain
6. Swehl for its breastfeeding Latch Kit, which includes a milk syringe and a BPA-free milk collection bottle and cups
7. Oxa for its wearable breathing coach used for stress relief
8. Symbodi for its Vertigun massage gun
9. August for its development of 100% organic and sustainable tampons and pads
10. Together By Renee for developing an AI health assistant for aging Americans and their caregivers

(Fast Company, "The World's Most Innovative Companies," 3/19; Fast Company, "How we pick the World's Most Innovative Companies," 3/2/23)

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