Drugs.com Releases Q3 Sales for Top 100 U.S. Drugs: Singulair Drops But Nexium and Abilify Remain the Leading Brands
Drugs.com, the leading online clinical drug resource, today released third quarter 2012 U.S. prescription sales data for the top 100 drugs
NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As in the previous quarter, proton-pump inhibitors, antipsychotics and statins remain in the top-selling therapeutic categories. Merck's asthma and allergy preventive Singulair predictably drops out of the top five drugs due to Q3 patent loss.
Top Five Drugs by Sales, Q3 2012
| Drug Name |
Sales ($000) |
% Change (previous |
| Nexium |
$1,420,907 |
2.93% |
| Abilify |
$1,405,226 |
1.89% |
| Crestor |
$1,245,527 |
10.74% |
| Cymbalta |
$1,158,353 |
9.50% |
| Humira |
$1,152,261 |
13.45% |
AstraZeneca's Nexium, not forecast to lose patent protection until May 2014, once again holds the top spot with over $1.42 billion in sales. Otsuka's leading antipsychotic Abilify continues to run a close race with Nexium, posting sales of $1.40 billion. The antidepressant and pain modifier Cymbalta and the TNF blocker Humira both break their way into the top five and exceed sales of $1.15 billion.
Top Five Sales Gains, Q3 2012
| Drug Name |
Gain ($000) |
% Change (previous |
| Humira |
$136,622 |
+13.45% |
| Crestor |
$120,825 |
+10.74% |
| Enbrel |
$118,579 |
+12.51% |
| Cymbalta |
$100,533 |
+9.50% |
| Copaxone |
$79,255 |
+9.93% |
Humira not only moves into the top five drugs by sales, but also displaces escitalopram to claim the number-one spot for revenue gains with over $136 million. Enbrel, with a doubling of sales gains, is the only other brand besides Humira to reappear in the top five sales gain in Q3 compared to Q2 2012. Crestor, Cymbalta and Copaxone all move into the top five, approaching or exceeding double-digit gains.
Top Five Sales Losses, Q3 2012
| Drug Name |
Loss ($000) |
% Change (previous |
| Singulair |
-$800,968 |
-62.20% |
| atorvastatin |
-$613,501 |
-78.25% |
| Lipitor |
-$392,788 |
-67.80% |
| Eloxatin |
-$251,500 |
-55.33% |
| Actos |
-$241,058 |
-41.96% |
Merck's Singulair drops 20 spots in sales ranking and loses over $800 million in sales due to first-time generic competition. Takeda's Actos, which has been slowly losing sales over the last 12 months, went generic in August and quickly drops 42 percent of revenue.
"Unprecedented pharmaceutical sales losses continue to make headlines in Q3 2012, highlighted by the Singulair patent expiry in August," said Philip Thornton, CEO of Drugs.com. "But these changes can be thought of as a win-win situation -- generic availability enables cost-savings for patients, while loss of exclusivity encourages the pharmaceutical industry to further develop new and life-saving therapeutics."
Pfizer's Lipitor continues to slide and drops 68 spots to close the quarter $392 million in the negative. As expected, the total dollar revenue of Lipitor's generic counterpart atorvastatin rapidly declines, dropping by over $613 million due to the market entrance of multiple generic manufacturers and inevitable price erosion.
Lidoderm, Maxalt and Actoplus Met are the next major brands expected to feel the effect of patent loss before the year's end.
Detailed data on the top 100 drugs can be accessed at:
http://www.drugs.com/stats/top100/sales
About Drugs.com
Drugs.com is the leading online drug information resource with over eight million unique visitors per month (ComScore, October 2012). Providing free, independent, peer-reviewed, and up-to-date information at both consumer and professional levels, Drugs.com empowers patients and caregivers to take charge of their health and be more informed than ever before. The site includes many interactive tools and mobile apps to assist consumers, healthcare professionals and researchers, such as personal medication records, a drug interaction checker, pill identification wizard, symptom checker, pharma sales statistics and more.
For more information, visit: http://www.drugs.com/
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SOURCE Drugs.com
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