Latest Drug Sales Data: Loss of Patent Protection Has Significant Effect, According to Drugs.com
NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Drugs.com, the leading online clinical drug resource, today released second quarter 2012 U.S. prescription sales data for the top 100 drugs.
Proton-pump inhibitors, antipsychotics, asthma therapeutics and statins remain the top-selling categories. Plavix and Seroquel dipped in the second quarter due to loss of patent protection. Other top brands such as Singulair, Actos and Diovan are also due to be impacted by year's end.
Top Five Drugs by Sales, Q2 2012
| Drug Name |
Sales ($000) |
% Change (previous quarter) |
| Nexium |
$1,380,413 |
-1.12% |
| Abilify |
$1,379,149 |
2.91% |
| Singulair |
$1,287,806 |
4.01% |
| Advair Diskus |
$1,124,985 |
-1.25% |
| Crestor |
$1,124,702 |
0.61% |
AstraZeneca's Nexium claims the top spot with over $1.38 billion in sales, overtaking Plavix, which dropped to ninth. Otsuka's Abilify exceeded sales of $1.37 billion in a close race with Nexium. Merck's top-selling asthma and allergy brand Singulair finished the quarter strongly with over $1.28 billion in sales. However, competition is on the horizon with the first generic versions of Singulair (montelukast) approved by the FDA in early August.
Top Five Sales Gains, Q2 2012
| Drug Name |
Gain ($000) |
% Change (previous quarter) |
| escitalopram |
$206,199 |
+98.11% |
| Humira |
$87,515 |
+9.43% |
| Epogen |
$65,278 |
+13.33% |
| Rituxan |
$62,543 |
+8.26% |
| Enbrel |
$57,984 |
+6.51% |
Escitalopram, the generic version of Forest's Lexapro, makes the largest gain, almost doubling from the previous quarter to close with $416 million in sales.
Top Five Sales Losses, Q2 2012
| Drug Name |
Loss ($000) |
% Change (previous quarter) |
| Seroquel |
-$1,001,283 |
-86.23% |
| Plavix |
-$686,059 |
-42.33% |
| Lipitor |
-$261,418 |
-31.09% |
| atorvastatin |
-$168,400 |
-17.68% |
| budesonide |
-$64,282 |
-24.99% |
While the extended release formulation of Seroquel (Seroquel XR) remains patent protected until 2017, the immediate release version of Seroquel claims the top loss in Q2.
"Medicines appearing at the top of the sales data for the second quarter show a strong brand presence, reinforcing the impact of research and development across multiple disease states," said Philip Thornton, CEO of Drugs.com. "However, as many top brands face patent expiration over the next few years, a reduction in sales of affected medicines will be inevitable - with each expiration contributing to the phenomenon colloquially referred to as the 'patent cliff.'"
Dollar losses in Q2 2012 are unprecedented. Seroquel forfeits close to 86 percent, or over $1 billion in sales and plummets 95 spots in sales ranking due to loss of patent protection. Lipitor and its generic counterpart atorvastatin, which posted the number-one sales gain in Q1 2012, both close the quarter with sales losses.
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 seven million unique visitors per month (ComScore, June 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.
Media Inquiries:
Drugs.com Press Officer
[email protected]
(718) 395 2473
This press release was issued through eReleases® Press Release Distribution. For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com.
SOURCE Drugs.com
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