Top drugs by sales revenue in 2015: Who sold the biggest blockbuster drugs?
Top drugs by sales revenue in 2015: Who sold the biggest blockbuster drugs?

The year 2015 has gone down in history as a record year for mergers and acquisitions in the pharmaceutical and biotech space with deals worth US $ 300 billion being announced. The highlight of the year was the Pfizer-Allergan mega-merger – the biggest-ever pharma transaction worth more than US $ 160 billion. 

Pharma Letter tracked transactions through the year and found the number of deals exceeding US $1 billion at 30 in 2015, as compared to 26 in 2014 and 20 in 2013. In all, a total of 166 M&A deals were announced in 2015 (out of which some are yet to be completed), compared to 137 in 2014.

 

This week, PharmaCompass brings you a compilation of the top drugs of 2015 by sales revenue and growth.


Sofosbuvir – the outright winner of 2015

2015 was the year of Sofosbuvir – the revolutionary active ingredient used for the treatment of hepatitis. Together, through the sale of drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi, Sofosbuvir brought in sales of almost US $ 19 billion.

The PharmaCompass prediction that Harvoni (a combination of Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir; and used for the treatment of infectious diseases like hepatitis and HIV) would become the best-selling drug ever in 2015 fell slightly short of expectations as its sales of US $ 13.864 billion were marginally less than AbbVie’s rheumatoid arthritis treatment – Humira.

Humira retained its place as the best-selling drug with US $ 14.012 billion in sales in 2015. However, with sales growth of US $ 11.737 billion in a single year, Harvoni is poised to become the best-selling drug by the end of 2016.


Top 20 Drugs by Sales

Here is PharmaCompass’ compilation of the best-selling drugs of 2015. This is based on information extracted from annual reports and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings of major pharmaceutical companies.

If you would like your own copy of all the information we’ve collected, email us at support@pharmacompass.com and we’ll send you an Excel version.

Click here to access all the 2015 data (Excel version available) for FREE!

 

Product

Active Ingredient

Main Therapeutic Indication

Company

2014 Revenue in Millions (USD)

2015 Revenue in Millions (USD)

2015 Sales Difference Millions (USD)

1

Humira

Adalimumab

Immunology (Organ Transplant, Arthritis etc.)

AbbVie

12,543

14,012

1,469

2

Harvoni

Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir

Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.)

Gilead Sciences

2,127

13,864

11,737

3

Enbrel

Etanercept

Immunology (Organ Transplant, Arthritis etc.)

Amgen / Pfizer

4,688

8,697

4009

4

Remicade

Infliximab

Immunology (Organ Transplant, Arthritis etc.)

Johnson & Johnson Merck

6,868

8,355

1487

5

MabThera/Rituxan

Rituximab

Oncology

Roche

5,659

7,115

1,456

6

Lantus

Insulin Glargine

Diabetes

Sanofi

6,978

7,029

51

7

Avastin

Bevacizumab

Oncology

Roche

6,481

6,751

270

8

Herceptin

Trastuzumab

Oncology

Roche

6,338

6,603

265

9

Revlimid

Lenalidomide

Blood Related Disorders

Celgene Corpoartion

4,980

5,801

821

10

Sovaldi

Sofosbuvir

Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.)

Gilead Sciences

10,283

5,276

(5,007)

11

Seretide / Advair

Salmeterol

Respiratory Disorders

GlaxoSmithKline

6,005

5,227

(778)

12

Crestor

Rosuvastatin Calcium

Cardiovascular

AstraZeneca

5,512

5,017

(495)

13

Lyrica

Pregabalin

Neuroscience and Mental Health

Pfizer Inc.

5,168

4,839

(329)

14

Neulasta

Pegfilgrastim

Blood Related Disorders

Amgen

4,596

4,715

119

15

Gleevec / Glivec

Imatinib

Oncology

Novartis

4,746

4,658

(88)

16

Xarelto

Rivaroxaban

Anticoagulants

Bayer / Johnson & Johnson

3,369

4,345

976

17

Copaxone

Glatiramer

Neuroscience and Mental Health

Teva

4,237

4,023

(214)

18

Januvia

Sitagliptin

Diabetes

Merck & Co

3,931

3,863

(68)

19

Abilify

Aripiprazole

Neuroscience and Mental Health

Bristol-Myers Squibb/ Otsuka Holdings

6,485

3,804

(2681)

20

Tecfidera

Dimethyl Fumarate

Neuroscience and Mental Health

Biogen

2,909

3,638

729

Click here to access all the 2015 data (Excel version available) for FREE!


A year of record FDA approvals

2015 was also the year when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 45 novel drugs, another all-time record high. In January this year, PharmaCompass had compiled a list of novel drugs approved by the FDA in 2015. We also extensively covered the new dosage forms of existing drugs approved in 2015. Do go through the article published on January 14, 2016, for more information.

PharmaCompass’ compilation of sales forecasts of novel drugs indicated a significant variation in estimates.  However, in our view, drugs that saw highest sales growth in 2015 are likely to do well this year as well.


Top 20 drugs by sales growth (in USD, millions)

 

Product

Active Ingredient

Main Therapeutic Indication

2014 Revenue in Millions (USD)

2015 Revenue in Millions (USD)

2015 Sales Difference Millions (USD)

1

Harvoni

Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir

Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.)

2,127

13,864

11,737

2

Viekira Pak

Ombitasvir/Paritaprevir/Ritonavir

Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.)

48

1,639

1,591

3

Humira

Adalimumab

Immunology (Organ Transplant, Arthritis etc.)

12,543

14,012

1,469

4

Hepatits C Franchise

Daclatasvir and Asunaprevir

Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.)

256

1,603

1,347

5

Imbruvica

Ibrutinib

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia

200

1,443

1,243

 6

Cubicin

Daptomycin

Anti-bacterial

25

1,127

1,102

7

Eliquis

Apixaban

Anticoagulants

774

1,860

1,086

8

Triumeq

Abacavir, Dolutegravir and Lamivudine

Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.)

-

1,037

1,037

9

Xarelto

Rivaroxaban

Anticoagulants

3,369

4,345

976

10

Opdivo

Nivolumab

Oncology

6

942

936

11

Revlimid

Lenalidomide

Blood Related Disorders

4,980

5,801

821

12

Tecfidera

Dimethyl Fumarate

Neuroscience and Mental Health

2,909

3,638

729

13

Xtandi

Enzalutamide

Oncology

480

1,207

727

14

Ibrance

Palbociclib

Oncology

-

723

723

15

Invokana / Invokamet

Canagliflozin

Type 2 diabetes

586

1,308

722

16

Victoza

Liraglutide

Diabetes

2,014

2,704

690

17

Stribild

Cobicistat, Elvitegravir, Emtricitabine and Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate

Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.)

1,197

1,825

628

18

Levemir

Insulin

Diabetes

2,133

2,745

612

19

Votrient

Pazopanib

Oncology


565

565

20

Perjeta

Pertuzumab

Oncology

927

1459

532

 

Hepatitis C products, which had three of the four highest sales growths in 2015, clearly show the impact these revolutionary treatments will have on the global healthcare landscape in time to come. Cancer immunotherapy treatments, a new generation of blood thinners and novel diabetes treatments were some of the others which demonstrated stellar growth in 2015.

Vaccines from Pfizer and Sanofi also displayed tremendous sales growth although they have not been included in the compilation of drugs.

Click here to access all the 2015 data (Excel version available) for FREE!

 

Sign Up, Stay Ahead

While some companies like Boehringer and Valeant are yet to release their annual reports. In order to stay informed, do sign up for the PharmaCompass Newsletter and you will receive updated information as it becomes available along with a lot more industry analysis.

Click here to access all the 2015 data (Excel version available) for FREE!

 

CORRECTION, April 12, 2016: An earlier version of this compilation did not account for cases where the same drug is sold by multiple companies (e.g. Enbrel, Remicade, Xarelto etc.). As an outcome, a re-ranking of the Top 20 Drugs by Sales and Sales Growth has been done. 

 

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