Rosuvastatin Calcium
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)   

Impressions: 54752

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#PharmaFlow by PHARMACOMPASS
29 Apr 2020
Top drugs by sales in 2016: Who sold the blockbuster drugs?
The year 2016 finished with a whimper insofar as mergers and acquisitions (M&As) were concerned. The preceding year — 2015 — had gone down in history as a record year for M&As in the pharmaceutical and biotech space, when deals worth US $300 billion were announced. While drug companies were not as active on the M&A front, the product sales growth in 2016 continued to stay extremely robust and the order of the top ranked drugs changed little from the previous year. This week, PharmaCompass brings you a compilation of the top drugs of 2016 by sales revenue. Click here to Access All the 2016 Data (Excel version available) for FREE!   The top-sellers   Abbvie’s Humira (adalimumab) continued to remain the best-selling drug in the world and added another US $2 billion to its 2015 sales by generating record sales of US $16.078 billion in 2016. Last year also saw the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve Amgen’s Amjevita™ (adalimumab – atto) — a biosimilar of Humira®. Amjevita was approved for treating adults with a variety of medical conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, plaque psoriasis, to ulcerative colitis. Click here to Access All the 2016 Data (Excel version available) for FREE! Gilead’s Harvoni (ledipasvir and sofosbuvir), with record sales of US $13.864 billion in 2015, had a slightly muted performance in 2016 as sales fell to US $9.081 billion (a drop of US $4.783 billion). Gilead failed to maintain its initial rate of new prescriptions, and competition from Merck and AbbVie forced it to offer major discounts to health insurers.  While Gilead executives still believe there is lots of growth left in the hepatitis C market, this year Gilead will continue to face headwinds as Merck's new combination pill — Zepatier — entered the market with a list price at US $54,600 for a 12-week regimen, well below the US $94,500 for Harvoni. Biological drugs, Enbrel (etanercept), Remicade (infliximab) and MabThera (rituximab), held onto their positions of 2015, although their combined sales increased a little over US $300 million. This means that for yet another year, the four best-selling drugs in the world are from biological origin. Celgene’s Revlimid (lenalidomide) — a thalidomide derivative introduced in 2004 as an immunomodulatory agent for the treatment of various cancers such as multiple myeloma — brought in US $5.8 billion in 2015, and grew another 20 percent this year, to US $6.974 billion. Revlimid now contributes more than 60 percent to the company's total sales of US $11.229 billion. With almost identical sales of US $6.7 billion, Roche’s cancer treatments Herceptin and Avastin were also into the top 10 best selling drugs in 2016, making Roche have the most number of products, three of which made it to the list. Click here to Access All the 2016 Data (Excel version available) for FREE! Facing onslaught of generics, biosimilars   Against the backdrop of questions being raised about insulin pricing and possible collusion in the United States, Sanofi saw its insulin treatment Lantus (insulin glargine) drop from number six on the 2015 list to number 9 in 2016 as sales fell by US $717 million to a little over US $6 billion. Sanofi’s competitors in the diabetes space — Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly — also registered a drop in their insulin sales.  In addition to the pricing pressure, Sanofi will continue to contend with Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim’s FDA approved biosimilar of insulin glargine — Basaglar — which was approved in December 2015. Click here to Access All the 2016 Data (Excel version available) for FREE! Basaglar is biologically similar to Sanofi’s Lantus and was announced at a price 15 percent lower than that of Lantus. GSK’s Advair, which is preparing for generic competition in 2017, saw its sales drop 5 percent in British Pounds to £3,485. However, the dollar value was significantly lower in view of the fall in the Pound’s value after Brexit.  AstraZeneca’s Crestor (rosuvastatin calcium), Otsuka’s Abilify (aripiprazole) and Novartis’ Gleevec (imatinib) all saw their sales crash in 2016 as a result of generic onslaught. The three drugs together witnessed a combined sales drop of US $5.7 billion. Top 20 drugs by sales   Here is PharmaCompass’ compilation of the best-selling drugs of 2016. 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 2016 data (Excel version available) for FREE!   S. No Product Active Ingredient Main Therapeutic Indication Company 2016 Revenue in Millions (USD) 2015 Revenue in Millions (USD) Sales Difference in Millions (USD) 1 Humira Adalimumab Immunology (Organ Transplant, Arthritis etc.) Abbvie 16,078 14,012 2,066 2 Harvoni Ledipasvir and Sofosbuvir Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.) Gilead 9,081 13,864 (4,783) 3 Enbrel Etanercept Immunology (Organ Transplant, Arthritis etc.) Amgen/Pfizer Inc. 8875 8697 178 4 Remicade  Infliximab Immunology (Organ Transplant, Arthritis etc.) Johnson & Johnson/Merck & Co 8,234 8,355 (121) 5 MabThera/Rituxan Rituximab  Oncology Roche 7227 6974.55 252 6 Revlimid Lenalidomide Oncology Celgene 6,974 5,801 1,173 7 Avastin Bevacizumab Oncology Roche 6,715 6,617 98 8 Herceptin Trastuzumab Oncology Roche 6,714 6,473 242 9 Lantus Insulin Glargine Diabetes Sanofi 6,057 6,773 (717) 10 Prevnar/Prevenar 13 Pneumococcal 13-Valent Conjugate Anti-bacterial Pfizer Inc. 5,718 6,246 (528) 11 Xarelto Rivaroxaban Cardiovascular Diseases Bayer/Johnson & Johnson 5,392 4,255 1,137 12 Eylea Aflibercept Ophthalmology Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc./Bayer 5,046 3,978 1,068 13 Lyrica Pregabalin Neurological/Mental Disorders Pfizer Inc. 4,966 4,839 127 14 Neulasta Pegfilgrastim Blood Disorders Amgen 4,648 4,715 (67) 15 Seretide/Advair Salmeterol Respiratory Disorders GlaxoSmithKline 4,252 4,491 (239) 16 Copaxone Glatiramer Neurological/Mental Disorders Teva 4,223 4,023 200 17 Sovaldi Sofosbuvir Infectious Diseases (HIV, Hepatitis etc.) Gilead 4,001 5,276 (1,275) 18 Tecfidera Dimethyl Fumarate Neurological/Mental Disorders Biogen 3,968 3,638 330 19 Januvia Sitagliptin  Diabetes Merck & Co 3,908 3,864 44 20 Opdivo Nivolumab Oncology Bristol-Myers Squibb 3,774 942 2,832   Blockbusters in the making   With almost US $5 billion in sales, a 14 percent growth over the previous year, Pfizer’s Lyrica enjoyed its last year before generic competition enters the market as Generics (UK) Limited (Mylan) and Actavis Group PTC ehf won a patent challenge in the United Kingdom. Lyrica generics are expected in the United States in late 2018. Click here to Access All the 2016 Data (Excel version available) for FREE! As Abbvie’s Humira begins to face competition from Amgen, Abbvie’s US $21 billion buy of Pharmacyclics seems to be paying off. The Pharmacyclics buy was a way to get access to Imbruvica (ibrutinib), which generated total 2016 sales of US $3.083 billion — an increase of US $1.64 billion over the previous year.  Anticoagulants, Xarelto (rivaroxaban), Eliquis (apixaban), Pradaxa (dabigatran) all registered significant positive growth with a combined increase of almost US $ 2.75 billion. Gilead and GSK’s combination HIV treatments — Genvoya and Triumeq — also reported sales increase of over a billion dollars each. Sign up, stay ahead   In order to stay informed, and receive industry updates along with our data compilations, 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 2016 Data (Excel version available) for FREE!  

Impressions: 58546

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#PharmaFlow by PHARMACOMPASS
19 Apr 2017
Drug costs and prescription trends in the United States: Analyzing Medicare’s $121 billion spend
In less than three weeks, Donald Trump will assume office as the President of the United States. He has mentioned that he wants Medicare (a national social insurance program) to directly negotiate the price it pays for prescription drugs. Medicare provides health insurance to Americans aged 65 or more, who have worked and paid into the system through the payroll tax. It also provides health insurance to younger people with some disabilities or end-stage renal disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. In 2015, Medicare provided health insurance to over 55 million Americans — including 46 million people aged 65 or more, and nine million younger people. As we flag off the New Year, PharmaCompass provides insights into drug prices and prescription patterns in the US in order to help professionals make informed decisions. We believe that the cost of medicines in the US, which have been a subject of much public outcry and discussions in the recent years, will continue to be scrutinized during 2017.   Medicare data for 2014 Medicare Part D, also known as the Medicare prescription drug benefit — the program which subsidizes the costs of prescription drugs and prescription drug insurance premiums for Medicare beneficiaries — published a data set (for calendar year 2014) which contains information from over one million healthcare providers who collectively prescribed approximately US $121 billion worth of prescription drugs paid for under this program. For each prescriber and drug, the dataset includes the total number of prescriptions that were dispensed (including original prescriptions and any refills), and the total drug cost. The total drug cost includes the ingredient cost of the medication, dispensing fees, sales tax, and any applicable administration fees. It’s based on the amounts paid by the Part D plan, the Medicare beneficiary, other government subsidies, and any other third-party payers (such as employers and liability insurers).  The total drug cost does not reflect any manufacturer rebates paid to Part D plan sponsors through direct and indirect remuneration or point-of sale rebates. In order to protect the beneficiary’s privacy, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) did not include information in cases where 10 or fewer prescriptions were dispensed.   Top Ten Drugs by Cost, 2014 [Most expensive for Medicare]    Drug Name Total Claim Count Beneficiary Count Prescriber Count Total Drug Cost Sofosbuvir 109,543 33,028 7,323 $3,106,589,192 Esomeprazole Magnesium 7,537,736 1,405,570 286,927 $2,660,052,054 Rosuvastatin Calcium 9,072,799 1,752,423 266,499 $2,543,475,142 Aripiprazole 2,963,457 405,048 130,933 $2,526,731,476 Fluticasone/Salmeterol 6,093,354 1,420,515 281,775 $2,276,060,161 Tiotropium Bromide 5,852,258 1,211,919 253,277 $2,158,219,163 Lantus Solostar (Insulin Glargine) 4,441,782 972,882 224,710 $2,016,728,436 Sitagliptin Phosphate 4,495,964 789,828 190,741 $1,775,094,282 Lantus (Insulin Glargine) 4,284,173 787,077 223,502 $1,725,391,907 Lenalidomide 178,373 27,142 9,337 $1,671,610,362 View the Medicare Part D National Prescriber Summary Report, Calendar Year 2014 (Excel version available) for FREE! Top Ten Drugs by Average Cost per Claim, 2014 [Most expensive drugs] Drug Name Total Claim Count Beneficiary Count Prescriber Count Total Drug Cost Average Cost Per Claim Adagen 13     $1,224,835 $94,218 Elaprase 100     $6,560,225 $65,602 Cinryze 1,820 194 196 $96,155,785 $52,833 Carbaglu 60     $2,901,115 $48,352 Naglazyme 129     $6,189,045 $47,977 Berinert 538 73 68 $25,685,311 $47,742 Firazyr 1,568 269 232 $70,948,143 $45,248 H.P. Acthar 9,611 2,932 1,621 $391,189,653 $40,702 Procysbi 314 41 47 $12,542,911 $39,946 Folotyn 15     $598,210 $39,881 Top Ten Drugs by Claims, 2014 [Most Commonly Used by Patients]   Generic Name Total Claim Count Beneficiary Count Prescriber Count Total Drug Cost Lisinopril 38,278,860 7,454,940 464,747 $281,614,340 Levothyroxine Sodium 37,711,869 6,245,507 416,518 $631,855,415 Amlodipine Besylate 36,344,166 6,750,062 451,350 $303,779,661 Simvastatin 34,092,548 6,768,159 387,651 $346,677,118 Hydrocodone-Acetaminophen 33,446,696 8,005,790 677,865 $676,296,988 Omeprazole 33,032,770 6,707,964 475,122 $529,050,385 Atorvastatin Calcium 32,603,055 6,740,061 419,327 $747,635,818 Furosemide 27,133,430 5,176,582 456,047 $135,710,772 Metformin HCl 23,475,787 4,509,978 364,273 $203,948,989 Gabapentin 22,143,641 4,298,609 486,754 $492,557,255 View the Medicare Part D National Prescriber Summary Report, Calendar Year 2014 (Excel version available) for FREE! Top Ten Drugs by Prescribers, 2014 [Most Popular with Doctors]   Generic Name Total Claim Count Beneficiary Count Prescriber Count Total Drug Cost Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen 33,446,696 8,005,790 677,865 $676,296,988 Ciprofloxacin HCl 7,253,018 4,926,835 568,201 $46,728,353 Amoxicillin 6,298,980 4,384,899 557,614 $31,193,739 Cephalexin 5,040,219 3,529,303 557,048 $36,987,401 Azithromycin 7,339,954 5,274,010 544,625 $70,699,119 Prednisone 11,032,986 4,505,821 536,108 $86,537,932 Tramadol HCl 14,250,227 4,272,724 515,816 $125,343,514 Sulfamethoxazole /Trimethoprim 4,833,758 3,090,944 500,790 $29,231,511 Gabapentin 22,143,641 4,298,609 486,754 $492,557,255 Amoxicillin/Potassium Clav 3,551,452 2,710,244 478,361 $61,713,432 The findings from CMS data The CY 2014 data represented a 17 percent increase compared to the 2013 data set and a substantial part of the total estimated prescription drug spending (as estimated by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, or ASPE) in the United States — at about US $ 457 billion in 2015, which was 16.7 percent of the overall personal healthcare services.  Of that US $ 457 billion, US $ 328 billion (71.9 percent) was for retail drugs and US $ 128 billion (28.1 percent) was for non-retail drugs. The drug pricing process in the US is complex and reflects the influence of numerous factors, including manufacturer list prices, confidential negotiated discounts and rebates, insurance plan benefit designs, and patient choices. An IMS study found that across 12 therapy classes widely used in Medicare Part D, medicine costs to plans and patients in Medicare Part D are 35 percent below list prices. View the Medicare Part D National Prescriber Summary Report, Calendar Year 2014 (Excel version available) for FREE! While the CMS does not currently have an established formulary, Part D drug coverage excludes drugs not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, those prescribed for off-label use, drugs not available by prescription for purchase in the US, and drugs for which payments would be available under Parts A or B of Medicare. Part D coverage excludes drugs or classes of drugs excluded from Medicaid coverage, such as: Drugs used for anorexia, weight loss, or weight gain Drugs used to promote fertility Drugs used for erectile dysfunction Drugs used for cosmetic purposes (hair growth, etc.) Drugs used for the symptomatic relief of cough and colds Prescription vitamins and mineral products, except prenatal vitamins and fluoride preparations Drugs where the manufacturer requires (as a condition of sale) any associated tests or monitoring services to be purchased exclusively from that manufacturer or its designee Our view The Medicare program is designed such that the federal government is not permitted to negotiate prices of drugs with the drug companies, as federal agencies do under other programs. For instance, the Department of Veterans Affairs — which is allowed to negotiate drug prices and establish a formulary — has been estimated to pay (on an average) between 40 to 58 percent less for drugs, as opposed to Medicare Part D. If Trump administration kick starts direct negotiations on Medicare drug prices with drug companies, 2017 will surely turn out to be a year for the pharmaceutical industry to remember.   View the Medicare Part D National Prescriber Summary Report, Calendar Year 2014 (Excel version available) for FREE!    

Impressions: 7923

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#PharmaFlow by PHARMACOMPASS
05 Jan 2017
Did Abbott’s sales rep kill himself due to work pressure? Clinton’s VP nominee under scrutiny for receiving favors from Teva’s Barr
This week, Phispers brings you the latest on controversies, such as the one surrounding Hillary Clinton’s running mate Tim Kaine and Roche’s Avastin that caused vision damage in patients at an Indian hospital. There is also regulatory news from across the world, and the latest M&A deal. Did Abbott’s sales rep in India kill himself due to pressure to meet targets? An Abbott medical representative in India killed himself last week, allegedly due to the pressure put by the pharma company to achieve periodic sales targets. As per a news report, Ashish Awasthi, 35, was found dead on a railway track, with a note that blamed the company for his death. Abbott, however, has denied any role in his death. In fact, the company has said Awasthi was rated among the top performers and had recently qualified for a training certification meant for high performers. Roche’s Avastin sent for testing, as stakeholders play blame-game in vision damage caseIndia’s Health Ministry has sent samples of Roche’s Avastin for testing following reports that 27 out of 30 patients at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, complained of infection and vision damage after being administered the drug.Samples of the drug used were sent to Central Drugs Laboratory in Kolkata for testing. The cause of the problem remains unclear, though the patients have been discharged from the hospital.  PGIMER suspects the problem was an outcome of the local chemist supplying spurious drugs. This is the first time in nine years that the hospital has purchased the medicine from a chemist, as this time there was a delay in supply from Roche. The chemist, in turn, passed the buck onto Roche.In a statement, Roche blamed the doctors, and said they should not have administered the drug. “The safety of patients is always our priority and we are treating the event in Chandigarh relating to the off-label use of Avastin (bevacizumab) in the eye very seriously. Avastin is an important cancer therapy... We would like to reiterate that [it] has not been approved for use in the eye by the US FDA (Federal Drug Administration), EMA (European Medicines Agency) or the Government of India,” Roche said. Clinton’s VP nominee under scrutiny for receiving favours from Teva’s BarrWhen it comes to accepting gifts from pharmaceutical companies, doctors have invariably been the target of scrutiny. However, last week America’s presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s running mate – Senator Tim Kaine – received much bad press for accepting a pharma company’s offer to fly him on a private jet to a meeting in Aspen. The company – Barr Pharmaceutical (now a part of Teva) – flew Clinton’s pick for the US vice president in a private jet, and the flight was worth US $ 12,000, says Kaine’s disclosure report. Kaine was then the governor of Virginia. And Barr executives were lobbying Kaine to write a letter to the FDA on its behalf. Kaine signed a letter to US regulators – as requested by Barr – before taking the flight, say reports.However, other news reports point that the flight and other gifts (worth US $ 160,000) Kaine accepted during his stint as governor were legal under Virginia’s laws at the time, since they were disclosed. FDA rejects Valeant’s potential blockbuster drug for treating glaucomaLast week, Valeant’s experimental glaucoma drug was rejected by the FDA, due to manufacturing practices at its Florida facility. In a statement, Valeant said it had received a Complete Response Letter from the FDA regarding its New Drug Application for Vesneo (latanoprostene bunod) – an intraocular pressure lowering single-agent eye drop for patients with open angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. In its rejection letter, the FDA did not cite concerns over efficacy or safety of the drug, but raised unspecified deficiencies at the Florida plant operated by Valeant’s Bausch & Lomb division. If approved, Vesneo will be the first nitric oxide donating prostaglandin receptor agonist available for the two disorders. Some analysts have suggested the drug (when approved) could become a global blockbuster with more than US $ 1 billion in annual sales. FDA approves record number of generic drug applications from IndiaAll news pertaining to Indian pharma may sound negative. But that’s not true – several new players are winning approvals to sell generics in the US market. Thought the FDA has stepped up both scrutiny and regulatory action against drug companies in India, it’s also been approving generic drug applications from India at a frenetic pace.For instance, Sun Pharma, Glenmark and Aurobindo said they had received approval to sell generics of the AstraZeneca’s blockbuster cholesterol pill Crestor in the US.During July to December 2015, the FDA approved a record 83 new generic drug applications out of India’s publicly listed firms. And during January to June 2016, though the pace of approvals slowed down to 73, it is still amongst the best six-months in statistics for approvals going back to 2005. An off-patent malaria drug may help treat cancerAn off-patent malaria drug – Atovaquone – has been found to boost oxygen levels in the tumour cells in mice. This makes radiotherapy more effective in treating a range of cancer, including cancer of the lung, bowel, brain and head and neck. The drug is known to be safe.Cancer cells with low oxygen levels are more difficult to treat with radiotherapy, and are more likely to spread to other parts of the body. Early work undertaken by British scientists points that Atovaquone could help destroy cancer cells by making them more susceptible to radiotherapy. This has prompted the scientists to start clinical trial on the off-patent drug. China likely to be first off-the-block to use CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing tool A long-standing goal of biomedical research is the development of an efficient and reliable way to make precise and targeted changes to the genome of living cells. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) are segments of prokaryotic DNA containing short repetitions of base sequences. And CRISPR-Cas9 – a new tool in genome editing – has created considerable excitement in biomedical research.However, it’s not the Americans who will be the first to use this tool. Scientists in China plan to use CRISPR-Cas9 in patients as early as next month. If they go ahead, it would be the first time people would be injected with cells whose DNA has been altered.A US proposal to run a similar study received approval by a federal ethics and safety panel last month, but it faces months of additional regulatory hurdles. And the earliest it can go ahead is 2016-end.Scientists intend to use CRISPR to edit immune-system T cells in patients with cancer in an effort to make those cells destroy malignant cells. Novartis AG stops making TB drugs in Pakistan due to dispute over pricingPakistan has the world’s fifth-largest incidence of tuberculosis. And fears of a health crisis – triggered by the shortage of TB drugs – looms over the country, as Novartis AG said it has stopped making TB drugs in Pakistan due to a dispute over pricing. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) sets prices for about 320 critical medicines. But pricing caps have not been significantly raised since 2001, and drug companies find it unviable to make several drugs in the country. This news comes at a time when Novartis is bracing up for a tougher price environment in the US, post the presidential elections. This imminent pricing environment is likely to compel the global pharmaceutical industry to restructure. China’s Fosun to buy Gland Pharma for US $ 1.4 billionThis week, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) signed a definitive agreement to acquire controlling stake in Hyderabad-based Gland Pharma in a US $ 1.4 billion deal. This is the first instance of a large FDI coming into India’s manufacturing sector from China. It also paves the way for Fosun to expand its research and manufacturing capacity in India.By way of this agreement, Fosun will acquire 86 percent stake in the company, by buying shares held by founders Ravi Penmetsa and family and private equity giant KKR & Company LP. KKR had bought 38 percent in Gland in November 2013, for about US $ 191 million, valuing the company at US $ 600-650 million at the time. 

Impressions: 1906

https://www.pharmacompass.com/radio-compass-blog/did-abbott-s-sales-rep-kill-himself-due-to-work-pressure-clinton-s-vp-nominee-under-scrutiny-for-receiving-favors-from-teva-s-barr

#PharmaFlow by PHARMACOMPASS
28 Jul 2016
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.   

Impressions: 56503

https://www.pharmacompass.com/radio-compass-blog/top-drugs-by-sales-revenue-in-2015-who-sold-the-biggest-blockbuster-drugs

#PharmaFlow by PHARMACOMPASS
10 Mar 2016
The Next Generic Attack: Brilinta® (Ticagrelor), Xarelto® (Rivaroxaban), Tradjenta® (Linagliptin) and…
With almost 30,000 Drug Master Files (DMFs) submitted to the FDA, reviewing the filings of only the first quarter of 2015, provides an indicator on the current areas of focus of generic pharmaceutical companies. A detailed evaluation of the 241 filings for active pharmaceutical ingredients only, made us find some interesting trends worth sharing. European Blockbuster battle! Of the 241 DMFs, 21 APIs had more than one DMF filing and accounted for 25% of the total filings. Interestingly, 20 DMFs  were for only three APIs: AstraZeneca’s blood thinner Brilinta® (Ticagrelor), with 2014 sales of $476 million, already had DMF filings from Dr. Reddy’s, Mylan, Polpharma and Zhejiang Hisun at the end of last year. With a maximum of 9 new filings from players like Teva, Alembic, Lek and others, AstraZeneca should brace itself for some serious generic onslaught.  While the 9 filings for Ticagrelor were the most for any single compound, not far behind is Bayer’s own blood thinner: Xarelto® (Rivaroxaban). With 7 submissions, the focus of the generic companies is understandable as Rivaroxaban had sales in excess of $3 billion and year-on-year growth in excess of 70%. However, patents currently protect the product till 2020, so patience is needed before generics can access this golden opportunity. Interestingly, 4 filings for Linagliptin (Boehringer’s antidiabetic Tradjenta®) make it yet another European pharma giant lead the list of products being subjected to generic competition, and make us wonder why European blockbusters are preferred over others? Exclusive but not patented There are products, which have no patent protection, but the market is protected by FDA granted exclusivities (learn more on patents and exclusivities from the FDA website). An opportunity for generic companies to gain significant market share of a multi-hundred million dollar market, without any litigation risk or cost is something companies dream about.  As the time of exclusivity expiry nears, Clobazam, Tetrabenazine, Hydroxyprogesterone Caproate, Deferiprone and Trypan Blue will all see increased generic activity as their Drug Master Files have been submitted. Fragmented Activity More than 80% of the DMF submissions were made by companies who filed only a single product. While the products varied from simple compounds like Sodium Chloride to biologics like Plasmid DNA, over 140 companies filed DMFs in the first quarter with almost 30 submitting a DMF for the first time. An expanding list of suppliers who support DMFs increases options for sourcing managers.  However, a fragmented supplier base limits the industrial scale companies can achieve and raises concerns regarding how many can successfully sustain compliance standards under increased regulatory scrutiny? The Next Generic Wave Blood thinners are an opportunity few generic companies wish to pass on. Boehringer’s (Dabigatran Etexilate), Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (Apixaban) and Bayer’s (Rivaroxaban) are novel compounds in this category which had combined sales in excess of $5 billion last year.  While Dagibatran saw a flurry of activity over the last two years with almost 15 DMF filings, there were no additional filings this year. On the other hand, Apixaban, which generated $774 million for Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2014, has only one DMF filing at the moment and that too was done over a year ago. The export data out of India, reviewed on PharmaCompass, for Apixaban, indicates that product development is already complete so it is just a matter of time before the filings begin.   Conclusion: Product and supplier selection is a critical component of every generic company’s strategy. The PharmaCompass database is designed to assist professionals in business development, marketing and sourcing to take more informed decisions. If you would like us to share our shortlist of 241 DMFs, we will be happy to send it to you by email (click here). You can also access our compilation of the 2014 annual reports of major pharmaceutical companies to review the various products along with their revenues (click here): Table: Products with more than one DMF filing in Q1 2015 PRODUCT NAME DMF FILINGS TICAGRELOR 9 RIVAROXABAN 7 LINAGLIPTIN 4 APREPITANT 3 CINACALCET HYDROCHLORIDE 3 ATAZANAVIR SULFATE 2 ATORVASTATIN CALCIUM TRIHYDRATE 2 CLOBAZAM 2 CLOFARABINE 2 DEFERASIROX 2 DIMETHYL FUMARATE 2 EZETIMIBE 2 ICATIBANT ACETATE 2 LURASIDONE HYDROCHLORIDE 2 MELPHALAN HYDROCHLORIDE 2 OLANZAPINE 2 OLMESARTAN MEDOXOMIL USP 2 PRASUGREL HYDROCHLORIDE 2 RIVASTIGMINE USP 2 ROSUVASTATIN CALCIUM 2 SOLIFENACINE SUCCINATE 2

Impressions: 8782

https://www.pharmacompass.com/radio-compass-blog/the-next-generic-attack-brilinta-ticagrelor-xarelto-rivaroxaban-tradjenta-linagliptin-and

#PharmaFlow by PHARMACOMPASS
13 May 2015
Who has the biggest one? Sales of the top pharma products by revenue.
We always knew math was fuzzy, but never imagined addition could get so complicated.  A recent publication on 2014 Global Prescription Medication Statistics listed the top pharmaceutical corporations by revenues, the best selling products along with the top therapy areas. The list, based on data published by IMS Health, caught us by surprise since a previous publication by FiercePharma had a completely different order when ranking the top 15 pharmaceutical companies.  As the difference in revenues of the top-10 companies was in excess of $60 billion and IMS Health’s data is an industry standard for decision making, we dug deeper to analyze the correlation between the information in the annual reports and IMS Health’s statistics. Which pharmaceutical company is the largest? Simply put, the answer is, ‘it depends’ on how you define a pharmaceutical company.  Should divisions like diagnostics, animal health, vaccines, consumer health be counted when determining the size of a pharmaceutical company? FiercePharma, in their analysis, used the total revenue of all divisions of the organizations to determine the largest organization; in their case it is Johnson & Johnson. IMS determines their numbers by measuring “prescription sales and dispensing” and hence, excludes divisions like diagnostics, consumer health and animal health, making Novartis the largest company. As currency exchange rate fluctuations have their own, big role, in determining the size of organizations, we believed it would be best to share the revenues, as presented, so that you can draw your own conclusions. Table 1/ Sales comparison for top pharmaceutical companies in 2014 from different sources (IMS, Fierce Pharma and Annual Reports)  Big Pharma IMS Rank IMS Sales (US $Mn) Fierce Pharma Rank Fierce Pharma Sales (US $Mn) Group Sales based on the Annual Report (Currency as reported, Mn)    Novartis 1 51,307 2 57,996 USD 57,996 Pfizer 2 44,929 4 49,605 USD 49,605 Sanofi 3 40,037 5 43,070 Euro 33,770 Roche 4 37,607 3 49,866 CHF 49,866 Merck & Co 5 36,550 6 42,237 USD 42,237 Johnson & Johnson 6 36,422 1 74,331 USD 74,331 AstraZeneca 7 33,313 8 26,095 USD 26,095 Glaxo SmithKline 8 31,470 7 37,960 GBP 23,006 Teva 9 26,001 11 20,272 USD 20,272 Gilead Sciences 10 23,673 10 24,474 USD 24,890 Amgen 11 20,473 12 20,063 USD 20,063 Lilly 12 19,909 14 19,615 USD 19,615 AbbVie 13 19,049 13 19,960 USD 19,960 Bayer 14 18,347 9 25,470 Euro 42,239 Bristol-Myers Squibb Not in Top 20 15 15,879 USD 15,879 NB: Mn is million Click here to access and download all the 2014 data (Excel version available) for FREE! Since each group has multiple divisions, we further split the sales for you to brainstorm: Table 2/ Sales comparison of the different divisions of top pharmaceutical companies in 2014 (Annual Reports in Mn)  Big Pharma Pharma Division Vaccine Division Generics Consumer Health Other Divisions Medical Devices/ Diagnostics Division Animal Health Division Divestures/ Other adjustments Novartis USD 31,791   Sandoz USD 9,562   Alcon USD 10,827     USD 5,816 Pfizer USD 45,708     USD 3,446 USD 451       Sanofi Euro 22,578 Euro 3,974 Euro 1,805 Euro 3,337     Euro 2,076   Roche CHF 38,969         CHF 10,897     Merck & Co USD 30,740 USD 5,302     USD 6,195       Johnson & Johnson USD 32,313     USD 14,496   USD 27,522     AstraZeneca USD 26,095               Glaxo SmithKline GBP 18,670     GBP 4,336         Teva USD 10,458   USD 9,814           Gilead Sciences USD 24,474             USD 416 Amgen USD 19,327       USD 736       Lilly USD 16,481       USD 788   USD 2,346   AbbVie USD 19,960               Bayer Euro 12,052     Euro 7,923       Euro 22,264 Bristol-Myers Squibb USD 15,879               Click here to access and download all the 2014 data (Excel version available) for FREE! Not sure that it adds any extra clarity on what should define a global pharmaceutical company… Since the various divisions make companies complicated to assess, what about product sales? The good news is that we have a winner!  Humira®, AbbVie’s monoclonal antibody Adalimumab, used to treat rheumatoid and other types of arthritis, is the highest selling product globally. IMS reported Humira’s annual sales for 2014 at $11,844 million, while AbbVie mentions their sales of Humira at $12,543 million, the difference: a mere $700 million! However, with IMS gathering data across various points of the supply chain, and the recent volatility of the currency markets, we believe that a difference of 5.5% of total sales is within range of reason. Unfortunately, things stopped making sense the moment we reached the number-two product on the IMS list. Lantus®, Sanofi’s insulin glargine, recorded sales of Euro 6,344 million (based on Sanofi’s 2014 annual report), while IMS mentions Lantus sales were $10,331 million last year. In addition, Sanofi has an 11% growth rate reported while IMS indicates a growth of 30%.   So unless the Euro/Dollar exchange rate moves back towards the 1.5 range, there seems to be a serious difference in the way the product sales are calculated by companies and by IMS.    Using information available in the annual reports and other company declarations, we attempted to compare IMS’ Top 20 Global Products 2014 with available public information, to only find more complications! Table 3/ Sales comparison of the top pharmaceutical products in 2014 (IMS vs Annual Reports) Products IMS Rank IMS Sales (US $Mn) Annual Reports Sales (US $Mn) Pharma Compass Rank Big Pharma Currency Annual Reports Sales in Mn Marketing Partner Marketing Partner Annual Report Sales (US $Mn) Humira® 1 11,844 12,543 1 Abbvie USD 12,543     Lantus® 2 10,331 7,676 5 Sanofi Euro 6,344     Sovaldi® 3 9,375 10,283 2 Gilead Sciences USD 10,283     Abilify® 4 9,285 7,556 6 Bristol Myers-Squibb USD 2,020 Otsuka 5,536 Enbrel®   5 8,707 8,538 4 Amgen USD 4,688 Pfizer 3,850 Seretide® 6 8,652 6,589 8 GSK GBP 4,229     Crestor® 7 8,473 5,512 11 AstraZeneca USD 5,512     Remicade®   8 8,097 9,880 3 Johnson & Johnson USD 6,868 Merck & Co. 2,372 Mitsubishi Tanabe 640 Nexium® 9 7,681 3,655 19 AstraZeneca USD 3,655     Mabthera®   10 6,552 6,936 7 Roche CHF 5,603 Roche 1,305 Avastin®   11 6,070 6,449 9 Roche CHF 6,417     Lyrica® 12 6,002 5,168 12 Pfizer USD 5,168     Herceptin®   13 5,564 6,306 10 Roche CHF 6,275     Spiriva® 14 5,483 3,917 17 Boehringer Euro 3,237     Januvia® 15 4,991 3,931 16 Merck & Co. USD 3,931     Copaxone® 16 4,788 4,237 14 Teva USD 4,237     Novorapid® 17 4,718 2,835 20 Novo Nordisk DKK 17,449     Neulasta® 18 4,627 4,596 13 Amgen USD 4,596     Symbicort® 19 4,535 3,801 18 AstraZeneca USD 3,801     Lucentis®   20 4,437 4,152 15 Novartis USD 2,441 Roche 1,711 Click here to access and download all the 2014 data (Excel version available) for FREE! It’s clear that the methods used to determine product sales are considerably different between IMS and the pharmaceutical companies, however there is a range of consistency as well. How accurate is each information really depends on the analyst’s point of view. Our take: With over $350 billion in total sales, we have provided our raw data for your review since we are certain that there are opportunities worth capitalizing upon and others, which may not be worthwhile to pursue. While the assessment of pharmaceutical sales is far more complicated than what we had originally imaged, the focus of Big Pharma on small molecules is on Hepatitis C drugs (Sofosbuvir,­ Olysio, AbbVie Hep C), blood thinners, Eliquis® (Apixaban), Xarelto®(Rivaroxaban) and of course ‘tinib’ cancer treatments. Table 4/ Growth of ‘tinib’ cancer treatments in 2014 (Annual Reports) Products Big Pharma Sales (US $Mn) 2013 Sales (US $Mn) 2014 Growth (%) Ibrutinib Pharmacyclics, Inc (now AbbVie) 14 492 3414% Dasatinib Bristol-Myers Squibb 1280 1493 17% Trametinib GSK 10 68 580% Nilotinib Novartis 1266 1529 21% Ruxolitinib Novartis 163 279 71% Ceritinib Novartis Not launched 31   Sunitinib Maleate Pfizer 1204 1174 -2% Crizotinib Pfizer 282 438 55% Axitinib Pfizer 319 410 29% Tofacitinib Citrate Pfizer 114 308 170% Click here to access and download all the 2014 data (Excel version available) for FREE! However, Big Pharma is now all about biologics. IMS’s data indicates that the top 10 products have only 5 biologics, while our calculations have 8 out of the top 10 products as biologics. The future strategy is best summed up by the statement in Bristol-Myers Squibb’s annual report “Just 5 years ago, we had about 40% of our development projects in biologics. If we look forward 3-5 years, we believe that number could potentially grow to about 75%”.  The barriers of entry for generic competition and potential windfalls have made rivals come together to co-market Synagis® (AbbVie & AstraZeneca), Remicade® (Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Tanabe), Xolair® and Lucentis® (Roche & Novartis). Our pharmaceutical whisper (phisper): join the bio-age or bio-degrade!  

Impressions: 12778

https://www.pharmacompass.com/radio-compass-blog/who-has-the-biggest-one-sales-of-the-top-pharma-products-by-revenue

#PharmaFlow by PHARMACOMPASS
23 Apr 2015