The ranking is a result of a global survey conducted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) through its affiliate Science magazine to determine which companies in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry have the best reputations as employers globally.

According to the comprehensive 2015 Web-based survey of more than 5,700 respondents on 23 different attributes, Biocon has been recognized for three Key Attributes which are 'Innovative leader in the industry', 'Has loyal employees', and 'Is socially responsible', and has been positioned at No. 13.

Dr Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon said, "We are delighted to achieve this global recognition, which is an outcome of our efforts to create an inspiring workplace built on a strong foundation of an innovation-led ecosystem that attracts the best global talent. At Biocon, we have invested in creating a culture that pursues excellence through learning and adopting global best practices. In doing so, we have successfully earned the reputation of being the most preferred biotech employer in Asia."

The Top 20 companies with the best reputations as employers were shortlisted from the list of more than 181 global companies.

The 2015 survey included a way for respondents to rank the biggest advantages to working in the biopharma industry.

Workers voted "innovation" as No. 1, followed by "working with smart colleagues" and "excellent compensation and benefits" as a close No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Interestingly, workers ranked "having the funding and resources for research projects" as a more distant No. 4.

Top Twenty Employers for 2015:

1. Novozymes (Bagsvaerd, Denmark)
2. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Tarrytown, NY, United States)
3. Novo Nordisk (Bagsvaerd, Denmark)
4. Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Boston, MA, United States)
5. Alexion Pharmaceuticals (Cheshire, CT, United States)
6. Genentech (South San Francisco, CA, United States)
7. Moderna Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA, United States)
8. Roche-excluding Genentech (Basel, Switzerland)
9. Monsanto Company (Creve Coeur, MO, United States)
10. AbbVie (North Chicago, IL, United States)
11. Eli Lilly and Company (Indianapolis, IN, United States)
12. Celgene Corporation (Summit, NJ, United States)
13. Biocon (Bangalore, India)
14. Abbott (Abbott Park, IL, United States)
15. Boehringer Ingelheim (Ingelheim, Germany)
16. Bayer (Leverkusen, Germany)
17. Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, Germany)
18. Biogen (Cambridge, MA, United States)
19. Gilead (Foster City, CA, United States)
20. Bristol-Myers Squibb (New York, NY, United States)

Methodology

To arrive at the final list, The US-based Brighton Consulting Group and Cell Associates first conducted a comprehensive, Web-based survey of 181 companies which had more than 5,700 respondents on 23 different attributes, including 'Corporate Image,' 'Financial Prowess,' 'Leadership and Direction,' 'Work Culture/Environment,' 'Location' and 'Academic and Intellectual Challenge.'

Survey respondents from across the globe, including North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, were asked to select companies which they considered the 'Best,' 'Average' and 'Worst' employers. A mathematical process was used to determine the attributes with the greatest impact on company/employer reputation.

Unique ranking scores were then derived from the ratings given to each company on these attributes.