2020, the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, presented significant challenges to every market in the world. However, the pharmaceutical market has still been able to adapt to this new situation and continues to grow quickly. Specifically, there is a significant emergence of countries like China, Brazil, and India that are becoming bigger players in this field and presenting a higher growth than the European and the American pharmaceutical markets. Still, the U.S. is currently responsible for 48.7% of all pharmaceutical sales. (1) The COVID-19 pandemic has put health concerns at the forefront, and the importance of the pharmaceutical market is evident.
Some of the drugs have been especially popular. Here are the top 20 best-sellers from 2020 and the predictions for 2025.
The top pharmaceuticals of 2020 was Humira (adalimumab) from AbbVie, which is a biologic therapy administered as a subcutaneous injection. It reached $19,832,000,000 in sales worldwide. The drug is used for some of the most complex and serious diseases such as rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis. It is indicated for inflammatory diseases. (2)
Spot number two is taken by Keytruda (pembrolizumab) from Merck with a $14,380,000,000 sales volume. It is indicated for the treatment of certain patients with various cancers, i.e. non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), melanoma, classical Hodgkin Lymphoma (cHL), urothelial carcinoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), gastric orgastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma, and microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) or mismatch repair deficient cancer. Spot three belongs to Eliquis (apixaban) from Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer with $14,117,000,000 in sales. It’s used for blood clots and stroke prevention. (2)
Next (No.4), there is Revlimid (lenalidomide), also from Bristol Myers Squibb, and sales of $12,106,000,000. It is indicated for myelodysplastic syndrome, multiple myeloma, and mantle cell lymphoma. Regeneron Pharmaceutical and Bayer preset number five, Eylea (aflibercept) with $10,722,220,000 in sales and used for age-related macular degeneration, macular edema, and diabetic retinopathy. AbbVide and Janssen sold Imbruvica (No.6) or ibrutinib for $9,442,000,000. The number 6 medication is used for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and lymphoma. (2)
At number seven with $8,073,560,000 in sales, there is Dupixent or dupilumab from Sanofi Genzyme and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, used for atopic dermatitis, asthma, chronic rhinosinitus. Number 8 has Stelara or ustekinumab from Janssen, $7,707,000,000 in sales, used for plaque psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. Number 9 features Biktarvy or bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofivir from Gilead Sciences for HIV, sold for $7,259,000,000. Number 10 has Opdivo from Bristol Myers Squibb, with annual sales for $6,992,000,000, another cancer medication for several anti-cancer indications including bladder, blood, colon, head and neck, kidney, liver, lung, melanoma, and stomach. (2)
At number 11, there is Xarelto from Janssen, reaching $6,498,020,000, which helps reduce the risk of stroke in atrial fibrillation and is used for deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism, and DVT prophylaxis after surgery, specifically, knee or hip replacement. Prevenar13® from Pfizer takes spot number 12, and it is a pneumococcal vaccine that reached $5,850,000,000. Pfizer has the next spot as well with Ibrance (No.13) is a targeted therapy for HR-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer and a total annual sales number of $5,392,000,000. If you are looking for active pharma ingredients, then Pharmasources would be your best choice. Next comes Avastin (Bevacizumab, No.14) from Roche with $5,325,380,765, used for advanced colorectal, lung, breast, relapsed glioblastoma, kidney, cervical, and ovarian cancer. Januvia (No.15) or Janumet from Merck ($5,276,000,000) and Trulicity (No.16) from Eli Lilly ($5,068,100,000), both employed for type 2 diabetes are next. (2)
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