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EU withdraws marketing authorisation for Abbvie's hepatitis C drug

02 Oct 2024

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27 Sep 2024

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We’re a company that takes on the toughest health challenges. But we do more than treat diseases—we aim to make a remarkable impact on people’s lives. We are AbbVie, a highly focused research-driven biopharmaceutical company. Our ~30,000 employees are scientists, researchers, communicators, manufacturing specialists and regulatory experts located around the globe. We come up with new approaches to addressing today’s health issues—from life-threatening illness to chronic conditions. We target specific difficult-to-cure diseases where we can leverage our core R&D expertise to advance science.

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Novartis, GSK, Sanofi, BMS shell out over US$ 10 bn in dealmaking, as mid-size deals take centerstage in 2024

The world of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology continued to evolve this year with strategic alliances reshaping industry contours. With mid-size deals taking centerstage, the growth trajectory appears to be marked by a balance of both caution and calculated ambition.The deal-making environment was robust in 2023, with over 2,000 unique pharma and biotech deals totaling more than US$ 410 billion, according to the PharmaCompass database. Last year, there were over 200 mergers and acquisitions (M&As) with transactions exceeding US$ 160 billion in total value. Oncology, infections and infectious diseases, and neurology had emerged as the top three therapeutic areas for deals.PharmaCompass’ analysis indicates that the momentum has been maintained in 2024. As of August 6, the industry had seen over 1,200 unique deals valued at more than US$ 230 billion, including over 120 M&A transactions surpassing US$ 60 billion in aggregate value. While oncology maintains its lead position, neurology and immunology have gained notable traction.The one big difference is that 2024 is yet to witness a mega-deal, comparable to Pfizer’s US$ 43 billion acquisition of Seagen in 2023 or Amgen’s US$ 27.8 billion Horizon buyout announced in 2022. The largest transaction thus far has been Novo Nordisk Foundation’s US$ 16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).This compilation does not include deals related to acquisition of facilities, divestment, medical devices, diagnostics and animal health. We have considered deals announced, irrespective of when these transactions were completed. For a comprehensive overview of CDMO deals and developments in 2024, please refer to our dedicated roundup.View Pharma & Biotech Acquisitions, Deals & Agreements in 2024 as of Aug. 6 (Free Excel Available) Vertex buys Alpine Immune for US$ 4.9 bn; Gilead’s CymaBay buyout pays off via FDA nodAmongst the biggest acquisitions of 2024 was Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ buyout of Alpine Immune Sciences for US$ 4.9 billion. It granted Vertex access to protein-based immunotherapies, including the promising povetacicept for IgA nephropathy, a serious kidney disease.Gilead Sciences’ acquisition of CymaBay Therapeutics for US$ 4.3 billion in February secured it access to seladelpar (Livdelzi), an experimental drug that received FDA’s accelerated approval this month for primary biliary cholangitis, a liver disease that affects the bile ducts. Eli Lilly bolstered its presence in the US$ 26.65 billion inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) market by purchasing Morphic Holding for approximately US$ 3.2 billion in July. Through this deal, Lilly gained the oral IBD therapy candidate MORF-057, which will offer a more convenient dosing option compared to injectable drugs currently available in the market. Lilly sees the IBD space as a way to diversify beyond obesity.Merck expanded its ophthalmology portfolio by acquiring Eyebiotech Limited for US$ 1.3 billion (plus US$ 1.7 billion in milestone payments), obtaining Restoret for diabetic macular edema and neovascular age-related macular degeneration.Japanese drugmaker Ono Pharmaceutical acquired Deciphera Pharmaceuticals for US$ 2.4 billion, gaining Qinlock for gastrointestinal stromal tumors and vimseltinib for tenosynovial giant cell tumors. Sanofi targeted rare diseases by purchasing Inhibrx for up to US$ 2.2 billion. The acquisition gave the French drugmaker access to INBRX-101 for Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, a genetic condition that can cause lung and liver damage.View Pharma & Biotech Acquisitions, Deals & Agreements in 2024 as of Aug. 6 (Free Excel Available) Novartis buys two oncology firms for their assets; J&J, Genmab join ADC bandwagonNovartis has been on a shopping spree, and has made two significant purchases this year. First, it acquired MorphoSys for € 2.7 billion (US$ 2.9 billion), thereby adding the promising bone-marrow cancer treatment pelabresib to its pipeline. Second, it announced the acquisition of Mariana Oncology for US$ 1 billion upfront (plus US$ 750 million in milestone payments), thereby expanding into radioligand therapies (RLTs) to treat cancers with high unmet need. RLTs take a targeted approach, delivering radiation to the tumor, while limiting damage to the surrounding cells.AstraZeneca entered the field of radioconjugates, which is a promising modality in the treatment of cancer, by acquiring Fusion Pharmaceuticals for US$ 2.4 billion.In January this year, Johnson & Johnson had announced the acquisition of antibody-drug-conjugate (ADC) developer Ambrx Biopharma for about US$ 2 billion. With this buyout, J&J has joined the likes of Bristol Myers Squibb, AbbVie and GSK who had entered this promising field through acquisitions last year.Similarly, Denmark’s Genmab bought ProfoundBio for US$ 1.8 billion in cash, boosting its oncology portfolio with three next-generation ADC candidates. This includes Rina-S, which recently received FDA’s fast track designation for the treatment of ovarian cancer.View Pharma & Biotech Acquisitions, Deals & Agreements in 2024 as of Aug. 6 (Free Excel Available) Novartis signs multiple collaborations; GSK, Takeda, AbbVie sign billion-dollar dealsNovartis was not just busy signing M&A deals, it also signed a bevy of collaboration agreements. For instance, Shanghai-based Argo partnered Novartis on two early-stage RNA interference candidates for cardiovascular diseases, potentially earning the former up to US$ 4.2 billion plus tiered royalties.Novartis also agreed to pay up to US$ 3 billion (including US$ 150 million upfront) to Dren Bio to use the latter’s Targeted Myeloid Engager and Phagocytosis platform to develop bispecific antibodies to treat cancer.Moreover, the Swiss drugmaker expanded its peptide discovery collaboration with Japan-based PeptiDream in a deal worth over US$ 2.71 billion in milestone payments, plus an upfront payment of US$ 180 million. Peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs) are the next generation of targeted therapeutic drugs after ADCs and Novartis is, thus far, the only big pharma with FDA-approved radioligand PDCs. GSK entered a groundbreaking partnership with Flagship Pioneering, potentially worth over US$ 7 billion, to identify and develop 10 novel drugs and vaccines. The deal, starting with respiratory and immunology drugs, involves US$ 720 million in upfront and milestone payments for each candidate. This collaboration leverages Flagship’s extensive portfolio of over 40 biopharma companies with drug development capabilities.There were two significant deals in the field of neuroscience. First, Takeda said it is paying Swiss biotech AC Immune US$ 100 million upfront with potential further payments of US$ 2.1 billion for an exclusive option to license global rights to an Alzheimer’s vaccine and related immunotherapies.Second, AbbVie and clinical stage biotech Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals joined forces in a deal potentially worth over US$ 2 billion to develop a new class of psychedelic compounds for psychiatric conditions, combining AbbVie’s psychiatric expertise with Gilgamesh’s innovative neuroplastogen research platform.View Pharma & Biotech Acquisitions, Deals & Agreements in 2024 as of Aug. 6 (Free Excel Available) Our viewDuring this year, companies like Novartis (with US$ 16.8 billion), GSK (US$ 14.5 billion), Sanofi (US$ 11.9 billion), Bristol Myers Squibb (US$ 11.6 billion), and AbbVie (US$ 9.1 billion) have made substantial investments in acquisitions, collaborations and other forms of dealmaking.Though the deal-making environment is robust, we notice a shift towards mid-size transactions. Alongside, we notice a growing interest in areas such as ADCs, radiopharmaceuticals, and protein-based immunotherapies, underscoring their growing importance in drug development. There has also been significant interest in silencing RNA (siRNA) therapeutics, highlighting the industry's focus on novel approaches to disease treatment. With the industry focusing on cutting-edge technologies that address unmet medical needs, we feel there is little reason to fret over the size of the deals.

Impressions: 2198

FDA’s June 2024 list of off-patent, off-exclusivity drugs sees rise in cancer, HIV treatments

This week PharmaCompass brings to you key highlights of the US Food and Drug Administration’s recently released June 2024 list of Off-Patent, Off-Exclusivity Drugs without an Approved Generic (OPOE list). The list is a crucial resource for promoting competition and affordability in the pharmaceutical industry. Updated biannually in December and June, the OPOE list serves as a transparent guide for drug manufacturers. Since December 2021, the FDA has enhanced its transparency efforts by providing separate lists for prescription (Rx) and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs approved under a New Drug Application (NDA). This initiative is a significant cog in the FDA’s broader strategy to encourage the development and submission of Abbreviated New Drug Applications (ANDAs). ANDAs are a streamlined pathway for generic drug development, offering a more cost-effective alternative to brand-name drugs. By highlighting drugs that lack generic competition on the OPOE list, FDA aims to incentivize manufacturers to develop generics, ultimately leading to greater affordability and access for patients. Access the Interactive Dashboard on FDA's June 2024 List of Off-Patent Drugs (Free Excel) ALS drugs, cancer, asthma, HIV treatments among new drugs added to OPOE list The December 2023 OPOE list had 23 new applications of branded drugs eligible for but without generic competition. The June list further added 21 new applications of drugs that had never appeared before. These include bendamustine hydrochloride (to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia), fluticasone propionate (to treat asthma), maraviroc (to treat HIV-1 infection in patients two years of age and older weighing at least 10 kilograms), carbamazepine (to treat epilepsy and bipolar I disorder), and posaconazole (an antifungal agent indicated for Aspergillus and Candida infections). There are two other drugs on the list – edaravone and riluzole – to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease (a neurological disorder). Much like the June 2023 OPOE list, nearly one-third of the prescription drugs listed are injectables – 170 out of 499. There are 74 prescription entries for oral solid dosage forms (such as tablets, capsules and modified release forms). The June 2024 OPOE list has 57 OTC drugs, a tad shy of the 60 drugs in last year’s list. Among them are antihistamine drugs (used to treat allergies), cetirizine hydrochloride, nizatidine, famotidine, loratadine and anti-obesity medication orlistat. The list also had a newly listed drug, which is a combination of chlorpheniramine maleate, ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine hydrochloride for treating allergic sinusitis. Out of the 57 OTC drug products on the list, 18 are delivered as oral solid dosage forms. Access the Interactive Dashboard on FDA's June 2024 List of Off-Patent Drugs (Free Excel) Novartis blockbusters lose exclusivity, Lupin wins FDA nod for copycat of Neurocrine’s bestseller This year, several large-selling drugs from drugmakers like Eisai, AbbVie, Gilead, Sanofi, Fresenius Kabi and others are due to face their first generic or biosimilar challengers in the US market. “First generics” are given for a first-to-file ANDA, for which there is no previously-approved ANDA by the FDA for the drug product. The agency considers first generics to be important to public health and prioritizes review of these submissions. First generics are eligible for a 180-day exclusivity period. Three of Novartis’ drugs have lost exclusivity so far, this year. These include Promacta/Revolade (eltrombopag) used to treat thrombocytopenia (low platelet count). Promacta was approved in 2015 and saw sales of US$ 2.27 billion last year. Annora Pharma scored an FDA approval for eltrombopag’s first generic in April. Tasigna (nilotinib), the Swiss drugmaker’s oral treatment for Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (a kind of leukemia where patients have an abnormal chromosome in their blood cells called the Philadelphia chromosome), got its first generic in January, which was introduced by Apotex. Tasigna brought in sales of US$ 1.85 billion in 2023 and its sales are projected to plummet to US$ 79 million by 2029. Novartis’ Rydapt (midostaurin) for treating adult patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) also lost exclusivity in April. Neurocrine Biosciences’ top-selling drug Ingrezza (valbenazine) was the first FDA-approved drug to treat tardive dyskinesia, a disorder that involves involuntary movements. It raked in US$ 1.84 billion in 2023, registering a year-on-year growth of 29 percent. In April, Lupin won FDA’s approval for the first generic of valbenazine capsules. Access the Interactive Dashboard on FDA's June 2024 List of Off-Patent Drugs (Free Excel) Our view The Biden administration has been pushing hard to lower the price of prescription drugs. It is one of President Joe Biden’s central campaign promises this year. However, lowering drug prices is a bipartisan issue in the US. So whether a republican or a democrat takes over the US administration, making medicines affordable should remain a priority. In 2023, generic drugs accounted for US$ 424 billion of the US$ 1.6 trillion global pharmaceutical market. A determined FDA that is proactively looking to approve generic drugs will no doubt help this segment grow even further.

Impressions: 2721

FDA approves record eight biosimilars in H1 2024; okays first interchangeable biosimilars for Eylea

Biologics, or complex drugs that are derived from living organisms, have revolutionized treatment of various conditions such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, and chronic illnesses. In 2023, eight out of 10 of the world’s top-selling drugs were biologics, including Merck’s Keytruda, AbbVie’s Humira, and Sanofi’s Dupixent.Due to their high costs, accessibility of biologics has been a challenge. That’s why biosimilars, or game-changing copycats of biologics that provide highly similar yet more affordable alternatives to established biologics, are becoming popular.The first biosimilar — Sandoz’ Zarxio — was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015. Its reference biologic was Amgen’s Neupogen (filgrastim). Since then, the global market for biosimilars has been growing at an impressive pace — between 2015 and 2020, it grew at a whopping compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 78 percent, touching US$ 17.9 billion in size. It is expected to continue growing at a CAGR of 15 percent and reach a size of about US$ 75 billion by 2030.Major biosimilar players include Amgen, Sandoz, Samsung Bioepis, Pfizer, Biocon Biologics, Celltrion, Stada Arzneimittel, Accord Healthcare, Fresenius Kabi, Coherus Biosciences, Apotex, and Sanofi. The increasing demand for biosimilars has propelled growth in contract manufacturing. Some of the leading contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs) and contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) that manufacture biosimilars are Polpharma Biologics, Catalent, Pfizer CentreOne, Lonza, Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellence, Thermo Fisher Scientific, WuXi Biologics, and FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies.Access the Interactive Dashboard for Biosimilar Developments (Free Excel)Amgen, Sandoz top list of ‘approved biosimilars’; FDA okays 8 copycats in H1 2024Over the recent years, regulatory agencies like the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have established rigorous approval pathways for biosimilars.Since 2015, FDA has approved 53 biosimilars, while the EMA has approved 86 biosimilars. Among the US, European and Canadian markets, Amgen and Sandoz are tied in the first place with 13 approved biosimilars each. Samsung Biologics has nine approved biosimilars, followed by Pfizer with eight and Biocon Biologics with seven. In the first half of this year, FDA set a record by approving eight biosimilars — the highest for H1 of any year. EMA has okayed six biosimilars so far in 2024.In 2023, five biosimilars were approved by the FDA with just one being okayed in the first half. The year marked the end of exclusivity for Humira after 20 years, in which it netted a total of US$ 200 billion in sales. AbbVie’s flagship autoimmune drug has a record 10 biosimilars.Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara also lost exclusivity in 2023 and as many as 11 drugmakers hope to bring its biosimilars to the market. Amgen’s Wezlana was the first biosimilar to Stelara, and it was approved as interchangeable by FDA in October last year.Access the Interactive Dashboard for Biosimilar Developments (Free Excel) FDA approves first interchangeable biosimilar for Eylea, cuts regulatory feeDeveloping a biosimilar costs both money and time. According to Pfizer, developing a biosimilar can take five to nine years and cost over US$ 100 million, not including regulatory fees.In October 2023, FDA slashed its fees with the program fee at US$ 177,397, down from US$ 304,162. The application fees for products that require clinical data has been set at US$ 1,018,753, down from US$ 1,746,745. The application fee for products that don’t require clinical data has been set lower — at US$ 509,377 — down from US$ 873,373 set earlier. This reduction in application fee has propelled demand for contract manufacturing of biosimilars.There has also been a rise in approvals of interchangeable biosimilars this year. Interchangeable biosimilars meet additional requirements and may be substituted for its reference product by a pharmacist without consulting the prescriber. This year saw FDA approve the first interchangeable biosimilars for bone cancer drug denosumab (Prolia and Xgeva) in Jubbonti and Wyost as well as for eculizumab (Soliris) in Bkemv.In May, FDA approved the first interchangeable biosimilars for eye drug aflibercept (Eylea) in Opuviz and Yesafili. Other biosimilars approved in 2024 include Simlandi for adalimumab (Humira), Tyenne for tocilizumab (Actemra), Selarsdi for ustekinumab (Stelara), and Hercessi for trastuzumab (Herceptin).Access the Interactive Dashboard for Biosimilar Developments (Free Excel) Merck’s Keytruda, BMS’ Opdivo, Novartis’ Cosentyx brace for biosimilar competitionHealthcare spending in the US is projected to rise from US$ 4.5 trillion in 2022 to US$ 6 trillion by 2027. While biologics involve just two percent of prescriptions, they account for 46 percent of all pharmaceutical spending. In 2022, US$ 252 billion was spent on biologics.Biosimilar-related savings in 2023 were estimated to be US$ 9.4 billion in the US and € 10 billion (US$ 10.68 billion) in Europe. With expensive and widely used drugs like AbbVie’s Humira, J&J’s Stelara, and Regeneron’s Eylea coming under competition, US savings are projected to reach US$ 181 billion through 2027. Between 2026 and 2032, about 39 blockbusters are set to lose exclusivity in the US and Europe. Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab) was the world’s top-selling drug last year, generating US$ 25 billion in sales. Its patent is set to expire in 2028 with sales expected to drop 19 percent to US$ 27.4 billion in 2029 from US$ 33.7 billion the previous year. Samsung Bioepis and Amgen initiated phase 3 trials of pembrolizumab in April and May of this year, respectively.Opdivo (nivolumab), belonging to the same class of drugs, competes with Keytruda and is also set to lose patent protection in 2028. It hauled in US$ 10 billion in total global sales in 2023 for Bristol Myers Squibb. The key patents of Novartis’ Cosentyx (secukinumab) are set to expire between 2025 and 2026. Cosentyx saw sales of US$ 5 billion in 2023. Taizhou Mabtech Pharmaceutical and Bio-Thera Solutions are conducting phase 3 trials of secukinumab.Access the Interactive Dashboard for Biosimilar Developments (Free Excel) Our viewWith over 2 billion people worldwide unable to access life-saving medicines, biosimilars hold the key to healthcare accessibility. In 2023, a record 13 biosimilars were launched in the market — the highest for a single year. And this included nine much-anticipated biosimilars to AbbVie’s Humira. In April this year, FDA announced a Biosimilars Action Plan to streamline the development of biosimilars. With a sharp focus on biosimilars, we expect more records to be broken in the near term. New launches of biosimilars to drugs like J&J’s Stelara, Regeneron’s Eylea and Merck’s Keytruda will surely help in creating new records.

Impressions: 2066

Top Pharma Companies & Drugs in 2023: Merck’s Keytruda emerges as top-selling drug; Novo, Lilly sales skyrocket

The pharma industry clearly recalibrated itself in 2023, turning its focus away from Covid and onto two of the biggest threats to human health – obesity and cancer. The top lines of the major pharma companies reflect this shift in focus.We always knew that Pfizer’s record US$ 100 billion revenue for 2022 wasn’t sustainable. Even though Pfizer’s 2023 sales were lower by nearly 42 percent against its 2022 sales, the New York-headquartered drugmaker managed to retain its pole position. The two main reasons behind its ‘top of the charts’ sales of US$ 58.5 billion were Pfizer’s record nine new molecular entity approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the launch of its vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).Johnson & Johnson came second with sales of US$ 54.8 billion (excluding its consumer business and MedTech units). AbbVie took bronze despite Humira being subject to biosimilar competition and Merck maintained its fourth position. Roche nabbed the fifth position from Novartis (which stood sixth). Bristol Myers Squibb maintained its position at seven, as did AstraZeneca (eighth) and Sanofi (ninth). And Eli Lilly bumped into the tenth spot, knocking out GSK.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs in 2023 by Sales (Free Excel Available)Keytruda, Eliquis, Humira top charts; Novo’s Ozempic debuts top 10 list at number fourMerck’s Keytruda became the number one selling drug in the world, a position that was held by AbbVie’s Humira for long, and Pfizer’s Comirnaty in the Covid years. This oncology drug raked in a whopping US$ 25 billion, with sales increasing 19 percent last year. In fact, Keytruda accounted for 46.7 percent of Merck’s pharmaceutical sales, which grew 3 percent in 2023 to US$ 53.6 billion.At number two was Pfizer and BMS’ anticoagulant Eliquis — it posted global sales of US$ 18.95 billion (marking a growth of 4 percent on 2022 sales). With competition from generics, Humira’s sales fell by 32 percent to US$ 14.5 billion. As a result, this blockbuster anti-rheumatic drug fell to the third rank.The fourth spot was taken up by Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, the wonder drug that treats type 2 diabetes. Gilead’s Biktarvy, a med that treats HIV-1, saw sales jump 14 percent — from US$ 10.39 billion posted in 2022 to US$ 11.85 billion last year. This way, Biktarvy emerged as the fifth largest selling drug of 2023.At number six was Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent. This allergic diseases med posted 11-figure sales in 2023, netting € 10.72 billion (US$ 11.59 billion) globally, a growth of 34 percent over 2022 numbers.At number seven was J&J’s biggest blockbuster immunology drug Stelara that raked in US$ 11.3 billion in 2023. Coming a close eighth was Pfizer-BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty — its sales fell by over 70 percent to US$ 11.22 billion in 2023. At the ninth spot was Lilly and Boehringer’s diabetes drug Jardiance that saw a 27.7 percent increase in total global sales at US$ 10.6 billion. And rounding off the list at number 10 is BMS’s Opdivo, a Keytruda rival. Opdivo hauled in US$ 10 billion in total global sales in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs in 2023 by Sales (Free Excel Available)Driven by diabetes, obesity care meds, Novo, Lilly post double-digit sales growthDemand for diabetes and new weight-loss drugs catapulted Novo Nordisk to emerge as the most valuable public company in Europe. Its net sales zoomed 31 percent to DKK 232.3 billion (US$ 33.75 billion) compared to DKK 177 billion (US$ 25.8 billion) in 2022. Net profit jumped 51 percent to DKK 83.68 billion (US$ 12.51 billion) in 2023 from DKK 55.5 billion (US$ 8.32 billion) in 2022 — the highest annual profit for the Danish drugmaker in over three decades.The growth was driven by Ozempic, whose sales spiked 60 percent in 2023 to DKK 95.7 billion (US$ 13.91 billion), from DKK 59.8 billion (US$ 8.71 billion) the year before.Rival Eli Lilly’s revenue grew 20 percent in 2023 to US$ 34.1 billion from US$ 28.5 billion in 2022. Mounjaro turned out to be a star for the Indianapolis drugmaker with its sales rocketing 970 percent in 2023 to US$ 5.16 billion. FDA also approved it to treat obesity under the brand name Zepbound in November, which brought in additional revenues of US$ 176 million.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs in 2023 by Sales (Free Excel Available) GSK’s RSV jab makes strong debut; AbbVie’s immunology drugs post steep growthGSK’s Arexvy was the first RSV vaccine approved by the FDA. It made a strong debut — Arexvy contributed £ 1.2 billion (US$ 1.5 billion) to GSK’s sales in just four months.AbbVie posted another solid financial year. Though the drop in Humira revenue was offset by two newer immunology blockbuster drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, the Illinois-headquartered drugmaker did posted a marginal decrease in revenue of 6.4 percent to US$ 54.3 billion. However, revenue from Skyrizi soared 50 percent to US$ 7.8 billion, while Rinvoq’s sales increased 57 percent to US$ 4 billion. AbbVie expects a combined US$ 16 billion from Skyrizi (US$ 10.5 billion) and Rinvoq (US$ 5.5 billion) sales in 2024. BMS attributed its 2 percent decrease in revenue (of US$ 45 billion) to lower sales of Revlimid in the US due to competition from generics. Sales of the multiple myeloma treatment dropped 39 percent to US$ 6.1 billion. Ophthalmology drug Eylea saw a drop in sales of 4 percent, at US$ 9.21 billion (from US$ 9.65 billion), as competition from Roche’s Vabysmo triggered a price cut by Regeneron. Vabysmo saw sales balloon 324 percent from CHF 591 million (US$ 685.56 million) to CHF 2.4 billion (US$ 2.78 billion) in 2023.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs in 2023 by Sales (Free Excel Available) Our viewAccording to data analytics company GlobalData, GLP-1 agonist drugs (such as Ozempic and Mounjaro that treat type 2 diabetes) are slated to overtake PD-1 antagonists (such as oncology drugs Keytruda and Opdivo) as the top-selling drugs on the market in 2024. It estimates a robust compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.2 percent from 2023 to 2029 for GLP-1 drugs that seem to have more benefits besides bringing down blood sugar levels (such as weight management, benefits to the heart etc).The market size for GLP-1 is likely to increase to US$ 105 billion by 2029. In contrast, the data firm projects a CAGR of 4.7 percent in the PD-1 antagonist market, with its market size projected to be around US$ 51 billion in 2029. Given these projections, we are likely to see more movers and shakers in our top 10 drug list this year.

Impressions: 3608

FDA approvals rise 49% in 2023; CRISPR’s gene editing therapy sees light of day

In 2022, when the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was reeling under the impact of the pandemic, new drug approvals by the agency dropped by 26 percent. But last year, FDA’s new drug approvals rebounded by an impressive 49 percent, with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) approving 55 new drugs in 2023. Of them, 36 percent were considered first-in-class, while small molecules made up for 62 percent of the total drugs approved (i.e. 34). FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) okayed 19 biologics in 2023 compared to eight in the previous year.The first half of 2023 saw the debut of vaccines for the all-too-common respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Among the other notable approvals in H1 was Biogen and Eisai’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi (lecanemab). Out of the total 55 drug approvals, 29 came in H2 2023. This includes Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics’ Casgevy that relies on the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR gene-editing technology. Casgevy has been approved as a treatment for sickle-cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia.While FDA witnessed a sharp rise in approvals in 2023, many other drug regulators didn’t. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted marketing authorization to 32 novel drugs in 2023, a fall from 33 in 2022. Similarly, Health Canada’s approvals in 2023 decreased to 38, compared to 45 in the previous year.As usual, oncology topped the list of drug approvals by therapeutic area, at 39 (as opposed to 35 in 2022). Rare diseases was the second most popular therapeutic area for drug approvals. With drugmakers clearly paying heed to the unmet needs of patients suffering from rare diseases, this therapeutic area sprinted from a 9 percent share and the fourth position among new approvals in 2022 to an impressive 34 percent share in 2023. A quarter of the new drug approvals were in infectious diseases, followed by immunology (19 percent) and neurology (7 percent).View New Drug Approvals in 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) Casgevy, postpartum depression drug Zurzuvae emerge as potential blockbustersGene therapy Casgevy, postpartum depression (PPD) med Zurzuvae, blood cancer med Elrexfio and ulcerative colitis drug Velsipity were some of the prominent approvals of 2023.Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency was the first to okay Casgevy in November as a cure for SCD and β-thalassemia. Soon, the FDA approved it for SCD. In January this year, the American agency also approved it for transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT). Analysts estimate Casgevy to generate US$ 2.6 billion in peak sales, says Nature. Biogen and Sage’s PPD therapy Zurzuvae became the first and only FDA-approved pill for the condition that can be life-threatening for both the mother and the child. Global sales of Zurzuvae are forecast to hit US$ 1.28 billion by 2028.In August, Pfizer’s Elrexfio (elranatamab) became the first “off-the-shelf” (ready-to-use) therapy in the US for multiple myeloma. The drug provides an option for patients with hard to treat or relapsed blood cancer and is estimated to bring in US$ 861 million in peak sales by 2028, says Nature.Pfizer also bagged another significant approval in October — its drug Velsipity (etrasimod) was greenlit by the FDA to treat adults with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease. Peak revenue for Velsipity is expected to come in at US$ 825 million, as per Evaluate.View New Drug Approvals in 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) Astra’s Truqap, GSK’s Ojjaara among top cancer therapies given FDA nod in H2In November, FDA approved AstraZeneca’s Truqap (capivasertib) in combination with the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’s Faslodex (fulvestrant) for treating adult patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive, HER2-negative locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer with one or more biomarker alterations. Evaluate Pharma forecasts peak Truqap sales to come in at about US$ 690 million.In September, FDA approved GSK’s Ojjaara (momelotinib) as the first and only treatment for myelofibrosis with anemia. Nearly all myelofibrosis patients are estimated to develop anemia over the course of the disease. Ojjaara is taken orally once a day.Other notable oncology treatments okayed by FDA in H2 2023 include Daiichi’s Vanflyta (quizartinib) in July to treat an aggressive blood cancer known as acute myeloid leukemia (AML). In August, FDA approved Janssen’s bispecific antibody Talvey (talquetamab-tgvs) for difficult-to-treat blood cancer. The agency approved two cancer therapies in November — BMS’ Augtyro (repotrectinib) for ROS1-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and Takeda’s targeted oral therapy Fruzaqla (fruquintinib) for adult patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC).View New Drug Approvals in 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) Rare disease drugs Santhera-Catalyst’s Agamree, Novo’s Rivfloza bag approval in H2In October, FDA approved Santhera Pharmaceuticals and Catalyst Pharma’s Agamree (vamorolone), an oral suspension treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) in patients two years of age and older. This makes it the first drug fully approved in both the US and Europe for the muscle degeneration disorder. Agamree acts in a manner similar to other steroids, which are the standard of care for the inherited rare disease. However, it causes fewer side effects.FDA also okayed Novo Nordisk’s once-a-month injection Rivfloza (nedosiran) in October to treat a rare genetic condition — primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1) — that causes recurring kidney stones.In November, the agency approved Takeda’s Adzynma (ADAMTS13, recombinant-krhn) as the first treatment for both adult and pediatric patients with congenital thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (cTTP), a rare genetic blood disorder. Other noteworthy FDA approvals in H2 2023 for rare blood diseases include Novartis’ Fabhalta and bluebird bio's Lyfgenia. Fabhalta is the first oral monotherapy for the treatment of adults with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, a rare disease that causes symptoms such as hemolytic anemia, hemoglobinuria (excretion of hemoglobin in the urine), fatigue, shortness of breath etc. Lyfgenia is the first cell-based gene therapy for the treatment of SCD in patients 12 years and older. Similarly, another rare disease drug — Regeneron’s Veopoz — bagged FDA approval in August last. Veopoz treats CHAPLE disease, an ultra-rare disease in which patients have severe gastrointestinal problems.View New Drug Approvals in 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) Our viewAfter a lull in 2022, new drug approvals have finally gathered momentum. The good news is that this year, several pathbreaking drugs are coming up for approval, such as Madrigal Pharmaceuticals’ resmetirom (the first treatment for NASH with liver fibrosis), Merck’s sotatercept (a treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension), Lilly’s donanemab for Alzheimer’s disease and Karuna Therapeutics’ drug to treat schizophrenia. Let’s hope 2024 turns out to be an even bigger year for new drug approvals.

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Pfizer’s buyout of Seagen, drugmakers suing US govt, obesity drugs make it to top 10 Phispers of 2023

Every week, PharmaCompass compiles important developments in the world of pharmaceuticals and brings a compilation to you in the form of Phispers. Of the hundreds of stories we carried in 2023, here are the top 10 stories, including some trends and updates.I. Pfizer buys Seagen for US$ 43 billion to bolster its oncology portfolioIn March, Pfizer said it is acquiring cancer treatment specialist Seagen for US$ 43 billion. Seagen is a pioneer in antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), or drugs that work like “guided missiles” to destroy cancer cells while sparing healthy cells. Another important deal in the field of ADCs took place in December when AbbVie picked up ImmunoGen for US$ 10.1 billion, giving it access to Elahere (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx), an ADC approved for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Elahere is expected to achieve blockbuster status by 2030. II. Merck, BMS, trade bodies, sue US government over IRA negotiationsIn June, Merck filed a lawsuit against the US government seeking to block Medicare from negotiating lower prescription drug prices under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Days later, the US Chamber of Commerce, one of the most influential trade groups in the US, filed a separate lawsuit, arguing that the negotiations violated drugmakers’ constitutional rights and granted excessive control over prices to the government. They were joined by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and lobby group PhRMA. Drugmakers and the Biden administration appeared to be at each other’s throats. In December, the White House identified 48 drugs whose prices spiked faster than inflation in Q4. These drugs may be subject to rebates starting January 2024. Biden Administration also announced it is setting a new “march-in” policy that allows the government to seize medicine patents held by drugmakers for therapies whose development was taxpayer-funded, if it believes they are not “reasonably available and affordable.”III. US, UK approve Lilly’s Mounjaro for weight management; to be sold as ZepboundIn November, drug regulators in the US and the United Kingdom approved Eli Lilly's Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for weight management, to be sold under the brand name Zepbound. The drug will pose strong competition to Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy in a market that's expected to reach US$ 100 billion by the end of the decade.IV. Novo, Lilly plan capacity expansions for weight loss drugsBoth Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly announced expanding their manufacturing capacities in order to capitalize on the burgeoning market for weight loss drugs. Novo is investing over DKK 42 billion (US$ 6 billion) in Kalundborg (Denmark), US$ 2.3 billion to expand its site in Chartres (France) and over € 2 billion (US$ 2.18 billion) in Dublin (Ireland) to boost production of its blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy (both semaglutide). Similarly, Eli Lilly had announced a US$ 2.5 billion manufacturing facility in Germany in November to address the demand for its new obesity and diabetes therapies.V. FDA finds violations at Global Pharma’s eye drops plant in India; issues Form 483In April, FDA found several violations in manufacturing processes and sterilization methods used by India-based Global Pharma for its EzriCare Artificial Tears Eye Drop, which has been linked to 68 cases of eye infection in the US, including eight cases of vision loss and three deaths.VI. ‘Intas India staff tore documents, threw acid to destroy evidence’, notes FDAIn January, FDA issued a Form 483 with 11 observations to Intas Pharma’s drug manufacturing facility in Ahmedabad (Gujarat, India). A team of three FDA drug regulators conducted an inspection of the manufacturing facility from November 22 to December 2, 2022. The 36-page report issued by the FDA has alleged that employees at the facility had destroyed documents related to manufacturing practices by tearing them into pieces and disposing them inside the quality control lab and scrap areas. Acid was used to destroy evidence, notes FDA.VII. GSK overtakes Pfizer in bagging first FDA approval for RSV vaccineIn May, FDA approved GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for people aged 60 and above. Arexvy is the first RSV vaccine to be approved in the US for the common condition that can be fatal for the elderly. Later that month, Pfizer’s RSV vaccine Abrysvo also got approved. In July, Sanofi-AstraZeneca’s RSV antibody therapy, Beyfortus (nirsevimab-alip), received approval from the FDA. It is a long-acting treatment that can be given once per season. The approval is specifically developed for newborns and infants.VIII. UK authorizes gene therapy Casgevy for blood disorders, US follows suit In November, Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency was first off the block in authorizing CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ Casgevy, a therapy that seeks to cure two blood disorders — sickle-cell disease (SCD) and β-thalassemia. The therapy is based on gene editing technology that had won its scientists the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020.Less than a month later, FDA not only approved Casgevy (exagamglogene autotemcel) for SCD, but also approved bluebird bio’s Lyfgenia (lovotibeglogene autotemcel) for the treatment of SCD in patients aged 12 and older who have a history of vaso-occlusive events (when tissues become deprived of oxygen).IX. Leqembi becomes first med to bag full approval to treat Alzheimer’sEisai and Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi (lecanemab) had won FDA’s accelerated approval in January. It treats patients who are in the earliest stages of the neurodegenerative disease. In July, it became the first treatment to receive full FDA approval to treat the condition.X. Bayer’s experimental anticoagulant fails late-stage trialOne of the biggest disappointments from clinical trials came when a major late-stage trial for Bayer’s experimental anticoagulant asundexian had to be discontinued due to its inadequate effectiveness. Bayer had expectations in excess of € 5 billion (US$ 5.5 billion) from this drug.

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FDA reports 62.5% growth in new drug approvals in H1 2023; Health Canada sees drop

After a year when drug approvals by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) slipped to the lowest since 2016, the first half of 2023 (H1 2023) saw a 62.5 percent growth in drug approvals by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) as compared with the same period last year. FDA’s CDER approved 26 new drugs in 2023, up from 16 in H1 2022. Approvals of biologics by the FDA surpassed full-year totals for many of the past 20 years. Nine new biologics were approved by FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) in H1 2023, as against just eight for 2022.While FDA approved more drugs, authorizations by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) also increased but drug approvals by Health Canada dipped by approximately 50 percent. In the first half of 2023, EMA authorized 14 drugs, as opposed to 10 in H1 2022. Similarly, Health Canada approved 13 drugs against 25 in H1 2022.Among the promising drugs approved in H1 2023 are Biogen and Eisai’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi (lecanemab), Astellas Pharma’s drug for hot flashes (associated with menopause) Veozah, AbbVie and Genmab’s blood cancer drug Epkinly and, GSK and Pfizer’s RSV vaccines Arexvy and Abrysvo, respectively.View New Drug Approvals in first half of 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available)GSK, Pfizer’s RSV vaccines to generate over US$ 1 billion by 2028The highlight of H1 2023 has been the approval of vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a contagious virus that causes infections of the respiratory tract, and can cause severe illness in older adults and infants. In May 2023, FDA approved GSK’s Arexvy, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for people aged 60 and older, making it the first vaccine approved in the US that protects against the disease. The drug is expected to generate US$ 1.73 billion in peak sales by 2028.Weeks later, the agency approved Pfizer’s Abrysvo, another RSV vaccine for older adults. The vaccine is expected to be available in the third quarter of 2023. In late August, Pfizer also bagged an FDA nod for use of Abrysvo to prevent RSV in infants by vaccinating pregnant women. The drug is expected to generate US$ 1.31 billion in peak sales by 2028.View New Drug Approvals in first half of 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) Leqembi, Veozah, Epkinly likely to join ‘over US$ 1 billion club’ by 2028In March, the US health regulator suggested stricter trials for accelerated approval of cancer drugs. The proposed recommendation followed criticism over the approval of Biogen and Eisai’s Alzheimer’s treatment Aduhelm through this pathway in June 2021.Contrary to this stand though, FDA had approved another Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen and Eisai — Leqembi (lecanemab) — through the same pathway in January 2023. Leqembi is an amyloid beta-directed antibody indicated for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The drug is expected to generate US$ 1.9 billion in peak sales by 2028. Later in July, FDA expanded the accelerated approval of lecanemab to a traditional approval for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.The US regulator approved several potential blockbuster drugs during the month of May. It granted full approval to Pfizer’s Covid-19 oral antiviral pill Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) during the month, which had been granted an emergency use authorization during the heydays of the pandemic. Paxlovid is the first oral antiviral pill for Covid-19. With the pandemic behind us, Paxlovid’s sales have been waning, though it is still projected to yield approximately US$ 5.5 billion in sales by 2028.The other important drug approved in May is Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma’s oral drug Veozah (fezolinetant) for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms (VMS), or hot flashes associated with menopause. The drug will cost US$ 550 for a month’s supply. Veozah is expected to generate US$ 1.9 billion in sales by 2028.FDA also granted accelerated approval to AbbVie and Genmab’s blood cancer therapy Epkinly (Epcoritamab-Bysp) in May. It has bagged approval to treat patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and is likely to emerge as a US$ 1.1 billion product.View New Drug Approvals in first half of 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) Sarepta, Biomarin’s gene therapies bag FDA nod; Lilly’s Jaypirca okayed for lymphomaIn June, FDA approved Sarepta’s Elevidys and Biomarin’s Roctavian. Elevidys bagged accelerated approval in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients aged four to five years. This is the first gene therapy approved by the FDA for the treatment of certain patients with DMD. Elevidys is expected to generate US$ 3.36 billion in peak sales by 2028.BioMarin’s one-time gene therapy – Roctavian – has been approved by the FDA to treat severe hemophilia A, a rare bleeding disorder. Priced at US$ 2.9 million, Roctavian is the first gene replacement therapy to be approved for the condition. Roctavian is expected to generate US$ 1.43 billion in peak sales by 2028. This approval follows another approval granted in November 2022 for the first gene therapy to treat adults with hemophilia B — CSL Behring and uniQure’s Hemgenix.In January, Lilly’s Jaypirca (pirtobrutinib) bagged FDA nod, thereby becoming the first and only non-covalent, BTK Inhibitor for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed mantle cell lymphoma which did not respond to other BTK Inhibitors. Jaypirca is expected to generate US$ 0.91 billion in peak sales by 2028.In March, FDA approved Pfizer’s Zavzpret (zavegepant) as the first and only calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonist nasal spray for the acute treatment of migraine. Zavzpret is expected to generate US$ 0.649 billion in peak sales by 2028.Another important FDA approval was granted to GSK’s drug Jesduvroq — it is now the first oral treatment for anemia caused by chronic kidney disease in adults who have been on dialysis for at least four months.View New Drug Approvals in first half of 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) FDA rejects Lilly’s donanemab, Alvotech/Teva’s Humira biosimilarIn January, when the FDA had approved Leqembi, the agency had rejected Eli Lilly’s bid for an accelerated approval pathway for its experimental Alzheimer’s disease drug donanemab. The agency had cited a lack of participants who received continuous treatment with donanemab for at least 12 months as the reason for its decision. However, Lilly announced positive late-stage trial results on donanemab in July — it slowed cognitive decline by 35 percent compared to a placebo in a late-stage trial. An FDA decision on the drug is likely around 2023-end or in early 2024.Similarly, FDA turned down Lilly’s mirikizumab for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. The agency also rejected a BLA for Eli Lilly’s ulcerative colitis drug mirikizumab over manufacturing concerns. Besides these, FDA also rejected Alvotech/Teva’s Humira biosimilar — AVT02 — for a second time this year.View New Drug Approvals in first half of 2023 with Estimated Sales (Free Excel Available) Our viewAfter the pandemic, business is back to normal at the FDA. The number of CDER approvals in the first half of this year are approximately 70 percent of the approvals in 2022. We anticipate more approvals in the upcoming months. If the FDA sustains this pace, approvals this year could potentially double those of the previous years.

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Top Pharma Companies & Drugs in 2022: Pfizer breaks US$ 100 bn barrier, AbbVie’s Humira retains 2nd spot

In 2022, the pandemic continued to bring in a windfall for pharmaceutical companies manufacturing Covid-19 products, with Pfizer’s total annual sales reaching a record high by surpassing US$ 100 billion for the first time.AbbVie, despite not having any Covid products in its portfolio, maintained its second position due to the sales of its blockbuster drug Humira and other medicines. Johnson & Johnson held onto the third spot, while Merck experienced the most significant change, climbing to the fourth position from seventh place in the previous year. AstraZeneca also moved up a spot to the eighth position. On the other hand, Novartis (fifth), Roche (sixth), BMS (seventh) and Sanofi (ninth) slipped in the rankings, while GSK (tenth) retained its position. There were no new entries in the top 10 in terms of pharmaceutical sales.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2022 (Free Excel Available)Pfizer retains top position as Comirnaty, Paxlovid, together generate over US$ 56 billion In 2022, Pfizer’s Covid-19 products — vaccine Comirnaty and antiviral pill Paxlovid — generated combined sales of US$ 56.7 billion. With a haul of US$ 37.8 billion, Comirnaty comfortably maintained its position as the top-selling drug for a second year in a row. Paxlovid brought in US$ 18.9 billion in its first full year on the market, grabbing the number four spot.Moderna’s messenger RNA Covid vaccine Spikevax generated US$ 18.4 billion in revenues, emerging as the fifth largest drug by sales in 2022.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2022 (Free Excel Available) AbbVie’s Humira, J&J’s Stelara post impressive growth; BMS face revenue declineAbbVie’s cash cow Humira, the bestselling non-Covid product in biopharma history, achieved sales of US$ 21.24 billion (partner Eisai reported another US$ 370 million) in 2022. While Humira brought in approximately 37 percent of the company’s total net revenues of US$ 58 billion in 2022, strong revenues from blood cancer drug Imbruvica, psoriasis treatment Skyrizi and rheumatoid arthritis med Rinvoq also contributed to AbbVie’s strong performance.J&J generated US$ 52.56 billion in 2022 revenues. Its pharmaceutical segment experienced an operational growth of 6.7 percent, driven by impressive performance of key drugs such as Stelara for inflammatory diseases and Darzalex for multiple myeloma. Stelara, which generated US$ 10.2 billion in overall sales last year (a growth of 6.9 percent), is expected to face generic competition in the US as its exclusivity is ending in 2023.BMS’ sales remained relatively unchanged even though its blockbuster multiple myeloma drug, Revlimid, experienced a 22 percent revenue decline due to generic competition. While Revlimid still generated sales of US$ 9.98 billion (partner BeiGene reported another US$ 80 million) in 2022, two other drugs, anticoagulant Eliquis and cancer drug Opdivo performed well. Eliquis generated US$ 11.8 billion in sales (partner Pfizer reported another US$ 6.5 billion), a 9.2 percent increase over 2021, while Opdivo achieved US$ 8.25 billion in sales (partner Ono Pharmaceuticals reported another US$ 1.05 billion). The drugmaker also introduced new products like Opdualag, Abecma and Reblozyl, which bolstered its overall sales.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2022 (Free Excel Available)Merck expands use of blockbuster Keytruda; oncology drugs boost Astra’s revenueMerck’s blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda had a remarkable year, achieving a significant year-on-year growth of 22 percent and generating US$ 20.9 billion in 2022 sales. This success propelled Keytruda to the third position among the top-selling drugs. Keytruda’s continuous expansion into new indications and treatment lines has solidified its position as a leading PD1 inhibitor, and is expected to maintain its momentum in 2023. Additionally, Merck’s Covid-19 pill Lagevrio recorded impressive sales of US$ 5.7 billion in 2022. Overall, at US$ 52 billion, the drugmaker posted spectacular growth in sales of 22 percent.AstraZeneca also experienced an impressive growth of 18 percent in 2022 to reach US$ 43 billion in revenue. The growth was primarily driven by the success of its cancer treatments, with blockbuster drugs like Tagrisso, Farxiga, Imfinzi, Lynparza playing a vital role. These drugs accounted for 35 percent of AstraZeneca’s overall revenue.View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2022 (Free Excel Available)Newer meds bolster Roche’s growth; Sanofi thrives with DupixentIn 2022, Roche experienced a sales growth of 2 percent at Constant Exchange Rate (CER) to reach CHF 45.55 billion (US$ 49.8 billion). The company’s strong pharmaceutical sales were fueled by increasing demand for newer medicines, including Ocrevus (for multiple sclerosis), Hemlibra (for hemophilia A), Vabysmo (for eye conditions), Evrysdi (for spinal muscular atrophy) and cancer drug Tecentriq. In 2022, Sanofi recorded global sales of €43 billion (US$ 47.1 billion), representing a 7 percent growth at CER. The French drugmaker’s strong performance was driven by major drugs, particularly Dupixent and its vaccine franchise. Dupixent brought in impressive sales of €8.3 billion (US$ 9.1 billion), marking a significant 57 percent increase over the previous year. Originally approved by the FDA in 2017 for atopic dermatitis, Dupixent has expanded its applications to include moderate to severe asthma and eosinophilic esophagitis, contributing to its continued growth. Sanofi expects Dupixent to reach €10 billion (US$ 10.7 billion) in sales in the current year.In July 2022, GlaxoSmithKline changed its name to GSK and demerged its consumer healthcare business to form Haleon, thereby becoming a fully focused biopharmaceutical company. The British drugmaker reported a modest 8 percent growth in revenue — at £29.32 billion (US$ 36.15 billion).View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2022 (Free Excel Available)Our viewAs the pandemic wanes, 2023 could be a year of transition for many drugmakers. Companies such as Pfizer, Moderna and AbbVie are implementing significant changes to their business strategies. Pfizer foresees a substantial decline in revenue, projecting a sharp drop of 33 percent with the reduced demand for its Covid-19 products. AbbVie, on the other hand, anticipates a decline in sales of its cash cow Humira due to increasing competition from biosimilars. These drugmakers are turning to innovative therapies, new indications, cost-cutting measures, acquisitions and partnerships to restrict the anticipated drop in revenues and ensure sustained growth.Barring these drugmakers, several other big players shared positive growth in the first quarter of 2023. While analysts predict Keytruda and Dupixent to continue their strong growth, there is optimism surrounding diabetes and obesity drugs, with Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy experiencing unprecedented demand. Eli Lilly is also anticipating the US approval of Mounjaro for obesity later this year. All in all, we anticipate more changes in our list of top companies and drugs for 2023!

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Top Pharma Companies & Drugs in 2021: Covid vaccines, pills cause churn in list

Every year, the list of top pharmaceutical products and companies by sales sees some churn. But the year 2021 was a lot different — it saw the pharma industry landscape change dramatically. It was a year when the industry was busy developing vaccines and therapies so that the world could recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. And this resulted in many drugmakers raking in billions of dollars in sales. As a result, the top company of 2020 in terms of pharmaceutical sales — Roche — slipped to the number five spot, while Pfizer, which was at number eight in 2020 after spinning off its generic business, moved up to the number one slot. The year proved to be a good one for pharmaceutical companies. Interestingly, last year none of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies saw a decline in their revenue. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2021 (Free Excel Available) Pfizer’s Comirnaty steals the show The company that reaped the maximum gains from its Covid vaccine was Pfizer. Comirnaty (tozinameran) was the top selling pharmaceutical product of 2021, posting global revenues of US$ 36.8 billion. This messenger-RNA Covid-19 vaccine, developed along with its German partner BioNTech, catapulted Pfizer to the slot of the top company by sales in 2021. Pfizer’s global topline grew from US$ 41.7 billion in 2020 to US$ 81.3 billion in 2021. In 2020, Pfizer was at number eight, behind Roche, Novartis, GSK, AbbVie, J&J, Merck and BMS. In 2021, it took a lead of billions of dollars on all these companies. The second largest drug company by sales — AbbVie — was way down at US$ 56.1 billion in global revenues. In fact, Comirnaty has become the fastest-selling drug in the history of the pharmaceutical industry. Back in December 2020, when both Comirnaty and Moderna’s Spikevax had bagged the US Food and Drug Administration’s emergency use authorization (EUA), there was a lot of uncertainty around how the promised doses would be delivered across the world. But both Comirnaty and Spikevax have proven to be a resounding success. Spikevax emerged as the third largest selling pharmaceutical product of 2021, bringing in US$ 17.7 billion for Moderna. Analysts expect both Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to sell even more vaccines in 2022. The reasons are manifold. First, SARS-CoV-2 is able to mutate often, and is unlikely to be eradicated in the near future, creating a need for booster shots. Second, the younger age groups are still to get vaccinated. Along with Comirnaty, Pfizer is battling Covid-19 with its antiviral pill, Paxlovid. Though the sales of Paxlovid have nosedived of late, Pfizer expects Comirnaty and Paxlovid to help the New York-headquartered drug behemoth achieve US$ 100 billion in 2022 revenues. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2021 (Free Excel Available) AbbVie moves up, sans Covid product; Roche slips to number five With no Covid-19 related products, AbbVie did fairly well in 2021 — it moved up from the number four spot in 2020 to number two position, thanks to its Allergan acquisition, cash cow Humira (adalimumab), the continued success of its cancer drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib) and an increase in sale of its psoriasis treatment Skyrizi (risankizumab) by a whopping 85 percent in 2021. Humira brought in sales of US$ 21.2 billion for AbbVie in 2021. However, things may change soon, with biosimilars of Humira slated to enter the market in 2023. The years 2022 and 2023 are likely to be transition years for AbbVie, as it works to build the market for its Humira successors — Rinvoq and Skyrizi. Roche emerged as a big loser in 2021, as several copycats of its blockbuster drugs hit the market. Copycats to Roche’s three blockbuster cancer drugs—Avastin, Herceptin and Rituxan—eroded US$ 4.9 billion (CHF 4.73 billion) from the company’s sales in 2021. A large chunk of growth for Roche came from its multiple sclerosis med Ocrevus, hemophilia drug Hemlibra, inflammatory disease therapy Actemra and PD-L1 inhibitor Tecentriq. The pandemic resulted in lower-than-expected sales of Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) due to fears around its immunosuppressive effects. Like Roche, Novartis also slipped last year. It fell from number two in 2020 to the number four slot in 2021. Essentially, Novartis is struggling with a relatively lackluster pipeline. It had sold its 33 percent stake in Roche last year for US$ 20.7 billion. It plans to use that sum for acquisitions in order to beef up its pipeline. The Swiss drugmaker has also drawn up a restructuring plan that includes layoffs of thousands of employees. Before the pandemic, Merck’s Keytruda was touted as the drug that would overtake Humira at the top in 2024. The checkpoint inhibitor has continued to grow impressively, adding new indications and treatment lines. Keytruda is now used in close to 40 indications. With US$ 17.2 billion in sales, Keytruda emerged as the fourth largest selling drug of 2022. Overall though, Merck slipped from number six to the number eight slot. This was due to the fact that Merck had spun out its women’s health, biosimilars and established brands businesses into Organon. However, its Covid-19 antiviral pill — Molnupiravir — was able to compensate for the lost revenue. Though the FDA is yet to grant the drug a full approval (it bagged an EUA in December 2021), advance sales agreements helped it rack up US$ 952 million in sales in the fourth quarter. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2021 (Free Excel Available) BMS moves up with Eliquis, Revlimid; J&J lands at number three Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) moved up from number seven in 2020 to number six, thanks to two of its drugs that made it to top 10 — anticoagulant Eliquis at number five and oncology drug Revlimid at number six. However, Revlimid will soon face competition — four generic companies now have the approval to sell their versions of Revlimid (lenalidomide) after March 2022. Revlimid sales are expected to drop from US$ 12.9 billion to just US$ 2.06 billion in 2026. BMS posted US$ 46.4 billion in global revenues, a nine percent increase from US$ 42.5 billion reported in 2020. In immuno-oncology, Opdivo brought in US$ 7.52 billion in sales, while Yervoy drew in sales of US$ 2 billion (an increase of 20 percent). J&J’s pharma division brought in US$ 52.1 billion in revenues last year, an increase of 14 percent over its revenues of US$ 45.6 billion posted in 2020. Drugs like Darzalex (for multiple myeloma), Stelara and its Covid-19 vaccine brought in growth during 2021, helping J&J move up from number five to the number three slot. J&J’s Covid-19 vaccine brought in US$ 2.4 billion in sales. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2021 (Free Excel Available) GSK bags approval for shingles vaccine; Takeda suffers setbacks GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) slipped four places — from number three in 2020 to number seven in 2021. Though GSK did not have a drug in the top 10, sales of GSK and Vir Biotechnology’s Covid-19 antibody treatment sotrovimab helped produce a seven percent increase in its 2021 revenue. The British drugmaker also bagged a critical FDA approval — its vaccine to prevent shingles (herpes zoster), Shingrix, bagged the agency’s nod in July. GSK hopes to double the sales of Shingrix by 2026. GSK is also undergoing a major transformation, and plans to demerge its consumer health unit this year. The unit generated revenues of £9.6 billion (US$ 13 billion) last year, and GSK sees the demerger as a necessary step to fuel growth through the development of new vaccines and specialty medicines. Sanofi managed to retain its ninth slot, even as its global turnover increased from US$ 39.3 billion (Euro 36.04 billion) to US$ 41.6 billion (Euro 37.76 billion). It snapped up Kymab, Tidal Therapeutics, Translate Bio, Kadmon Holdings, Origimm Biotechnology and Amunix in deals that bolstered its presence in immunology, immuno-oncology and vaccines. Dealmaking is on the French drugmaker’s menu for 2022 and beyond, Sanofi’s CFO said at this year’s virtual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. AstraZeneca’s global revenues grew from US$ 26.6 billion in 2020 to US$ 37.4 billion in 2021. However, its rank fell from nine in 2020 to 10 in 2021. AstraZeneca wrapped up the US$ 39 billion acquisition of Alexion in July 2021. Alexion’s rare disease franchise—led by C5 inhibitors Soliris and Ultomiris—added an extra US$ 3.1 billion to Astra’s top line last year. Takeda suffered several clinical and regulatory setbacks in 2021, which it labeled as an “inflection year.” For Gilead, sales of its Covid-19 antiviral Veklury brought in US$ 5.6 billion last year, helping its revenues grow by 11 percent. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top Drugs by Sales in 2021 (Free Excel Available) Our view If anything, the pandemic has taught us that change is the only constant. It has also taught us that products can become blockbusters in a matter of a few months. The industry landscape continues to change. On the one hand, we are seeing people scrambling to get Covid vaccines and booster shots, on the other hand, the FDA has limited the use of monoclonal antibodies, such as Eli Lilly’s bamlanivimab and etesevimab and Regeneron’s REGEN-COV (casirivimab and imdevimab), in treating Covid caused by the Omicron variant. The FDA has also pulled the authorization granted to GSK and Vir Biotechnology’s antibody therapy this month, citing data that suggested it was unlikely to be effective against the dominant Omicron sub-variant. And last week, there was news that demand for Pfizer’s antiviral pill Paxlovid has remained unexpectedly low. The supply of Paxlovid, which reduced hospitalizations or deaths in high-risk patients by around 90 percent in a clinical trial, has far outstripped demand in many countries like the US, the UK and South Korea. Though Pfizer is hopeful of crossing US$ 100 billion in revenue this year, much depends on how the pandemic pans out and what new research has to say about the novel coronavirus. A lot will change once the pandemic becomes endemic. The first four months of 2022 tell us that vaccines like Comirnaty and Spikevax will continue to perform well. But two years down the line, our charts could look very different.

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Top drugs and pharma companies by sales in 2020

Last year, the pandemic impacted everyone’s life in one way or the other. It turned the limelight on to the pharmaceutical industry, which stepped up efforts to deliver treatments and vaccines for Covid-19. It was a year of challenges for the drug industry as it struggled to supply existing drugs and treat emergencies amid disruptions in the way business was conducted the world over. Unlike previous years when the top five drug companies largely remained unchanged, 2020 saw several movers and shakers. The acquisition of Allergan by AbbVie helped it enter the ‘top five’ list, while companies like Pfizer and Merck got edged out. Despite a 2 percent increase in revenues, Pfizer dropping out of the top five was not a complete surprise as it spun-off its Upjohn unit. The unit merged with Mylan to create Viatris, an entity with over US $10 billion in revenues. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2020 (Free Excel Available) Roche emerges as top drug company by global sales The top five list of global pharmaceutical companies by sales in 2020 was quite a mix of surprises. While Swiss major Roche topped the ranking of global drug companies by pharmaceutical sales (with global revenues of US$ 49.6 billion or CHF 44.532 billion), it also witnessed a sales decline of 8 percent, which was partially an outcome of the Swiss franc gaining against most currencies during the pandemic. Overall, competition from biosimilars and the Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on Roche’s pharmaceutical sales in 2020. However, it witnessed strong sales growth of newly launched medicines like Tecentriq, Hemlibra, Ocrevus, Perjeta and Kadcyla, which helped in offsetting the CHF 5 billion (US$ 5.53 billion) impact of competition from biosimilars. At the second position was Swiss drugmaker Novartis, whose global sales (at US$ 48.7 billion) were marginally lower than Roche’s. Unlike the numero uno, Novartis’ pharmaceutical sales grew 4 percent, driven by cardiology drug Entresto that witnessed a 44 percent increase in revenues. While its oncology unit and Sandoz’s biosimilars business also posted an increase in sales, Covid-19 negatively impacted demand, particularly for the company’s ophthalmology and dermatology operations and the retail operations of Sandoz. The year also saw Novartis’ gene therapy Zolgensma, the world’s costliest drug, reach nearly US$ 1 billion in sales. As the British pound became a lot stronger against the US dollar, GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) witnessed a 3 percent increase in sales in constant currency terms and saw its group sales (£ 34.1 billion or US$ 47.27 billion) take the number three spot in US dollar terms. Strong sales performances from key growth drivers in HIV, respiratory, oncology and consumer healthcare offset disruptions from Covid-19. GSK’s consumer healthcare division reported over £10 billion (US$ 13.91 billion) in sales and the firm is on track to create new standalone biopharma and consumer healthcare companies in 2022. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2020 (Free Excel Available) AbbVie’s international Humira sales drop 13.6% due to biosimilars AbbVie reported worldwide revenues of US$ 45.8 billion, an increase of 38 percent versus the previous year. This included US$ 10.3 billion in revenues from the Allergan acquisition, growth in the immunology portfolio, and the continued strength of Humira in the US as well as revenue growth from Imbruvica and Venclexta. Humira, the best-selling drug since 2012, continued to dominate with US$ 19.83 billion in sales, an increase of 3.5 percent as compared to 2019. While the international sales of Humira dropped 13.6 percent due to competition from biosimilars, in the US sales increased as Humira is protected from biosimilar competition until 2023. J&J’s pharmaceutical division delivered a strong performance as its pharmaceutical sales grew 8 percent to US$ 45.6 billion and contributed more than the combined sales of its other two units — consumer health and medical devices. This sales growth was largely attributed to primary operational drivers including Imbruvica and Stelara, which were among the top 10 drugs by sales in 2020. J&J and AbbVie have an equal share in the profits (and losses) from the sales of Imbruvica, which witnessed a double digit increase in sales to US$ 9.4 billion. Similarly, J&J’s Stelara reached US$ 8.0 billion in sales. J&J’s overall revenues grew by just 0.6 percent to US$ 82.6 billion (including sales from its consumer health and medical devices divisions). It will be interesting to see what J&J’s 2021 revenues look like as it benefits from the sales of its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2020 (Free Excel Available) Merck’s Keytruda on its way to becoming world’s best-seller With AbbVie’s Humira beginning to face generic competition, Merck’s oncology drug Keytruda continued to go from strength to strength posting a sales growth of 30 percent. Keytruda delivered more than US$ 14.4 billion in sales, almost a third of the firm’s US$ 43 billion revenue. It’s only a matter of time before Keytruda becomes the world’s best-selling drug. Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) reported worldwide revenues of US$ 42.5 billion in 2020. BMS’ products Revlimid and Eliquis reported significant growth last year, and followed Humira and Keytruda in terms of sales. Eliquis, which is also promoted by Pfizer in some geographies, had total sales of US$ 14.1 billion while Revlimid posted over US$ 12 billion in sales. Revlimid, which BMS picked up through its acquisition of Celgene, will face limited generic competition sometime after March 2022. Furthermore, while BMS’ oncology treatment Opdivo’s sales (US$ 7.2 billion) declined by 3 percent compared to 2019, it remained one of the top selling drugs in 2020 (US$ 7.9 billion) with a small portion of sales coming from Ono Pharma in Japan. Sanofi reported approximately US$ 43.6 billion (€36 billion) in net sales for 2020, which rose by 3.3 percent at constant exchange rates even as some of its flagship products’ sales declined due to generic and biosimilar competition. Solid performances from Dupixent, vaccines and its specialty care global business unit across all geographies, more than offset lower sales. In the case of Gilead, while products like Biktarvy in its HIV portfolio witnessed a growth of over 50 percent to more than US$ 6 billion, it was Gilead’s treatment for Covid-19 — remdesivir — promoted under the brand Veklury which went from no sales in 2019 to US$ 2.81 billion in sales in 2020. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2020 (Free Excel Available) Our view The human health business of many companies was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, operating expenses saw a reduction due to lower promotional and selling costs, as well as lower R&D expenses. This year, as Covid vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, J&J and AstraZeneca are rolled out in more countries across the world, they are expected to ring in significant revenue contributions for these companies. For instance, Pfizer recently announced that it expects US$ 26 billion in revenues from the sale of its vaccine in 2021. Similarly, Moderna said it expects US$ 19.2 billion in sales from its Covid-19 vaccine this year. Given this scenario, the order of the top drug companies and the sales contribution of various drugs will change significantly in 2021. It seems likely that Pfizer’s vaccine will become the best-selling product by sales in 2021 and the American drugmaker will be back among the top five in the global drug companies by sales list. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2020 (Free Excel Available)

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Top drugs and pharmaceutical companies of 2019 by revenues

Acquisitions and spin-offs dominated headlines in 2019 and the tone was set very early with Bristol-Myers Squibb acquiring New Jersey-based cancer drug company Celgene in a US$ 74 billion deal announced on January 3, 2019. After factoring in debt, the deal value ballooned to about US$ 95 billion, which according to data compiled by Refinitiv, made it the largest healthcare deal on record. In the summer, AbbVie Inc, which sells the world’s best-selling drug Humira, announced its acquisition of Allergan Plc, known for Botox and other cosmetic treatments, for US$ 63 billion. While the companies are still awaiting regulatory approval for their deal, with US$ 49 billion in combined 2019 revenues, the merged entity would rank amongst the biggest in the industry. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2019 (Free Excel Available) The big five by pharmaceutical sales — Pfizer, Roche, J&J, Novartis and Merck Pfizer continued to lead companies by pharmaceutical sales by reporting annual 2019 revenues of US$ 51.8 billion, a decrease of US$ 1.9 billion, or 4 percent, compared to 2018. The decline was primarily attributed to the loss of exclusivity of Lyrica in 2019, which witnessed its sales drop from US$ 5 billion in 2018 to US$ 3.3 billion in 2019. In 2018, Pfizer’s then incoming CEO Albert Bourla had mentioned that the company did not see the need for any large-scale M&A activity as Pfizer had “the best pipeline” in its history, which needed the company to focus on deploying its capital to keep its pipeline flowing and execute on its drug launches. Bourla stayed true to his word and barring the acquisition of Array Biopharma for US$ 11.4 billion and a spin-off to merge Upjohn, Pfizer’s off-patent branded and generic established medicines business with Mylan, there weren’t any other big ticket deals which were announced. The Upjohn-Mylan merged entity will be called Viatris and is expected to have 2020 revenues between US$ 19 and US$ 20 billion and could outpace Teva to become the largest generic company in the world, in term of revenues. Novartis, which had followed Pfizer with the second largest revenues in the pharmaceutical industry in 2018, reported its first full year earnings after spinning off its Alcon eye care devices business division that had US$ 7.15 billion in 2018 sales. In 2019, Novartis slipped two spots in the ranking after reporting total sales of US$ 47.4 billion and its CEO Vas Narasimhan continued his deal-making spree by buying New Jersey-headquartered The Medicines Company (MedCo) for US$ 9.7 billion to acquire a late-stage cholesterol-lowering therapy named inclisiran. As Takeda Pharmaceutical Co was busy in 2019 on working to reduce its debt burden incurred due to its US$ 62 billion purchase of Shire Plc, which was announced in 2018, Novartis also purchased the eye-disease medicine, Xiidra, from the Japanese drugmaker for US$ 5.3 billion. Novartis’ management also spent a considerable part of 2019 dealing with data-integrity concerns which emerged from its 2018 buyout of AveXis, the gene-therapy maker Novartis had acquired for US$ 8.7 billion. The deal gave Novartis rights to Zolgensma, a novel treatment intended for children less than two years of age with the most severe form of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Priced at US$ 2.1 million, Zolgensma is currently the world’s most expensive drug. However, in a shocking announcement, a month after approving the drug, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a press release on data accuracy issues as the agency was informed by AveXis that its personnel had manipulated data which the FDA used to evaluate product comparability and nonclinical (animal) pharmacology as part of the biologics license application (BLA), which was submitted and reviewed by the FDA. With US$ 50.0 billion (CHF 48.5 billion) in annual pharmaceutical sales, Swiss drugmaker Roche came in at number two position in 2019 as its sales grew 11 percent driven by its multiple sclerosis medicine Ocrevus, haemophilia drug Hemlibra and cancer medicines Tecentriq and Perjeta. Roche’s newly introduced medicines generated US$ 5.53 billion (CHF 5.4 billion) in growth, helping offset the impact of the competition from biosimilars for its three best-selling drugs MabThera/Rituxan, Herceptin and Avastin. In late 2019, after months of increased antitrust scrutiny, Roche completed its US$ 5.1 billion acquisition of Spark Therapeutics to strengthen its presence in gene therapy. Last year, J&J reported almost flat worldwide sales of US$ 82.1 billion. J&J’s pharmaceutical division generated US$ 42.20 billion and its medical devices and consumer health divisions brought in US$ 25.96 billion and US$ 13.89 billion respectively. Since J&J’s consumer health division sells analgesics, digestive health along with beauty and oral care products, the US$ 5.43 billion in consumer health sales from over-the-counter drugs and women’s health products was only used in our assessment of J&J’s total pharmaceutical revenues. With combined pharmaceutical sales of US$ 47.63 billion, J&J made it to number three on our list. While the sales of products like Stelara, Darzalex, Imbruvica, Invega Sustenna drove J&J’s pharmaceutical business to grow by 4 percent over 2018, the firm had to contend with generic competition against key revenue contributors Remicade and Zytiga. US-headquartered Merck, which is known as MSD (short for Merck Sharp & Dohme) outside the United States and Canada, is set to significantly move up the rankings next year fueled by its cancer drug Keytruda, which witnessed a 55 percent increase in sales to US$ 11.1 billion. Merck reported total revenues of US$ 41.75 billion and also announced it will spin off its women’s health drugs, biosimilar drugs and older products to create a new pharmaceutical company with US$ 6.5 billion in annual revenues. The firm had anticipated 2020 sales between US$ 48.8 billion and US$ 50.3 billion however this week it announced that the coronavirus pandemic will reduce 2020 sales by more than $2 billion. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2019 (Free Excel Available) Humira holds on to remain world’s best-selling drug AbbVie’s acquisition of Allergan comes as the firm faces the expiration of patent protection for Humira, which brought in a staggering US$ 19.2 billion in sales last year for the company. AbbVie has failed to successfully acquire or develop a major new product to replace the sales generated by its flagship drug. In 2019, Humira’s US revenues increased 8.6 percent to US$ 14.86 billion while internationally, due to biosimilar competition, the sales dropped 31.1 percent to US$ 4.30 billion. Bristol Myers Squibb’s Eliquis, which is also marketed by Pfizer, maintained its number two position and posted total sales of US$ 12.1 billion, a 23 percent increase over 2018. While Bristol Myers Squibb’s immunotherapy treatment Opdivo, sold in partnership with Ono in Japan, saw sales increase from US$ 7.57 billion to US$ 8.0 billion, the growth paled in comparison to the US$ 3.9 billion revenue increase of Opdivo’s key immunotherapy competitor Merck’s Keytruda. Keytruda took the number three spot in drug sales that previously belonged to Celgene’s Revlimid, which witnessed a sales decline from US$ 9.69 billion to US$ 9.4 billion. Cancer treatment Imbruvica, which is marketed by J&J and AbbVie, witnessed a 30 percent increase in sales. With US$ 8.1 billion in 2019 revenues, it took the number five position. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2019 (Free Excel Available) Vaccines – Covid-19 turns competitors into partners This year has been dominated by the single biggest health emergency in years — the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. As drugs continue to fail to meet expectations, vaccine development has received a lot of attention. GSK reported the highest vaccine sales of all drugmakers with total sales of US$ 8.4 billion (GBP 7.16 billion), a significant portion of its total sales of US$ 41.8 billion (GBP 33.754 billion). US-based Merck’s vaccine division also reported a significant increase in sales to US$ 8.0 billion and in 2019 received FDA and EU approval to market its Ebola vaccine Ervebo. This is the first FDA-authorized vaccine against the deadly virus which causes hemorrhagic fever and spreads from person to person through direct contact with body fluids. Pfizer and Sanofi also reported an increase in their vaccine sales to US$ 6.4 billion and US$ 6.2 billion respectively and the Covid-19 pandemic has recently pushed drugmakers to move faster than ever before and has also converted competitors into partners. In a rare move, drug behemoths — Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) —joined hands to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. The two companies plan to start human trials in the second half of this year, and if things go right, they will file for potential approvals by the second half of 2021. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2019 (Free Excel Available) Our view Covid-19 has brought the world economy to a grinding halt and shifted the global attention to the pharmaceutical industry’s capability to deliver solutions to address this pandemic. Our compilation shows that vaccines and drugs for infectious diseases currently form a tiny fraction of the total sales of pharmaceutical companies and few drugs against infectious diseases rank high on the sales list. This could well explain the limited range of options currently available to fight Covid-19. With the pandemic currently infecting over 3 million people spread across more than 200 countries, we can safely conclude that the scenario in 2020 will change substantially. And so should our compilation of top drugs for the year. View Our Interactive Dashboard on Top drugs by sales in 2019 (Free Excel Available)

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