Company: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ($REGN)
Based: Tarrytown, NY
R&D budget: $489M
Change from 2009: +23%
Net sales spent on R&D: 126%

Don't look for R&D expenses to drop anytime soon at Regeneron. The developer has already posted $400 million in research costs for the first 9 months of this year as the FDA completes the final review of its application for Eylea, or VEGF Trap-Eye, as a treatment for wet, age-related macular degeneration.

Regeneron has three late-stage programs that could fundamentally transform the company, and it's committed some serious cash to hiring the R&D staff needed to complete the job.

Eylea is also in two late-stage studies for central retinal vein occlusion. Earlier this year, Regeneron and Bayer launched a Phase III study of the treatment for diabetic macular edema. Regeneron's biggest development partner is Sanofi, which is collaborating on a portfolio of antibodies and the late-stage Zaltrap (aflibercept) for colorectal cancer.

A third program, Arcalyst, (rilonacept) has been in the clinic for gout. It was approved in 2008 for a rare autoinflammatory disease known as Cryopyrin-Associated Periodic Syndromes, but so far earns only a modest amount of income. Gout could be worth $500 million a year.