Pharmacy Fact: What is the Best-Selling Prescription Drug?

The pharmaceutical market is massive, clocking in at more than $1.2 trillion in 2020, with an anticipated growth of nearly $22 billion dollars expected in 2021.¹ Examining which drug makes up the most of that revenue, one name pulls far away from the competition.²

Adalimumab (Humira, AbbVie) was the highest selling drug of 2020, generating a massive $19.8 billion in total revenue.² Sales of adalimumab accounted for close to 61% of AbbVie’s total net revenue for 2018,³ and it’s more than $5 billion higher than the net profits generated by the runner-up, pembrolizumab (Keytruda, Merck).² Adalimumab is approved for the treatment of several autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn disease, ankylosing spondylitis, and plaque psoriasis in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.³

Pembrolizumab may soon overtake adalimumab, however.The drug has been awarded a number of regulatory approvals and has seen activity across 25 different cancer types. Pembrolizumab has been projected to generate $22.5 billion in revenue by 2025, whereas adalimumab’s patent is set to expire in 2023, which is anticipated to precede a major decrease in revenue because of biosimilar competition.⁴

Neither of these 2 prescriptions are the best-selling drug of all time, however. That honor still goes to atorvastatin (Lipitor, Pfizer), which generated a total lifetime sales figure of $150.1 billion by Q3 of 2017. For contrast, adalimumab had an estimated lifetime revenue of $109 billion over the same period, and with the anticipated decline in sales, it’s unlikely to eclipse atorvastatin’s lifetime revenue anytime soon.⁵

REFERENCES

1. Global pharmaceuticals market report 2021: market is expected to grow from $1228.45 billion in 2020 to $1250.24 billion in 2021 - long-term forecast to 2025 & 2030 [news release]. Globe Newswire; March 31, 2021. Accessed August 19, 2021. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2021/03/31/2202135/28124/en/Global-Pharmaceuticals-Market-Report-2021-Market-is-Expected-to-Grow-from-1228-45-Billion-in-2020-to-1250-24-Billion-in-2021-Long-term-Forecast-to-2025-2030.html
2. 50 of 2020’s best-selling pharmaceuticals. Drug Discovery & Trends; May 14, 2021. Accessed August 19, 2021. https://www.drugdiscoverytrends.com/50-of-2020s-best-selling-pharmaceuticals/
3. The top selling prescription drugs by revenue. Pharmaceutical Technology; May 21, 2019. Accessed August 19, 2021. https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/top-selling-prescription-drugs/
4. Keytruda Set to Become World’s Top-Selling Drug, Forecast Shows. BioSpace; October 4, 2019. Accessed August 19, 2021. https://www.biospace.com/article/keytruda-set-to-become-world-s-top-selling-drug-forecast-shows/
5. The 15 all-time best-selling prescription drugs. Kiplinger; December 5, 2017. Accessed August 19, 2021. https://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/investing/t027-s001-the-15-all-time-best-selling-prescription-drugs/index.html