10 Biologics on Best Selling Drugs List for 2014
Last month Genetic Engineering News published an article titled “The Top 25 Best-Selling Drugs of 2014,” where they listed the best selling drugs for 2014. Ten biologics were on the list and seven of the top eight best selling drugs were biologics. The top 10 are listed below.
Other highlights for biologics included:
- Humira finished first again this year as the best selling drug of 2014.
- The biggest sales increases were for Humira (AbbVie) with an increase in sales of 17.7% and Lantus (Sanofi) up 11% from last year.
- Biologics to treat Rheumatoid Arthrits represented 3 of the top 8 biologics – Humira, Remicade, and Enbrel.
- Biologics to treat cancer also represented 3 of the top 8 – Rituxin, Herceptin, and Avastin in fifth.
| Rank | Biologic | Expression System | Company | 2014 Sales | Approved Indication |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Humira (adalimumab) | CHO | AbbVie | 12.543 billion | Moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis, moderate to severe Crohn’s disease; moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, moderate to severe polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis |
| 2 | Remicade (infliximab) | Murine Myeloma | Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. | 9.240 billion | Moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis in adults, in combination with methotrexate; Crohn's Disease in children 6 years and older, and adults who have not responded well to other medicines; rheumatoid arthritis; ankylosing spondylitis; psoriatic arthritis; chronic, severe, extensive, and/or disabling plaque psoriasis in adults; moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis in children 6 years and older and adults that have not responded well to other medicines |
| 3 | Rituxan (rituximab, MabThera) includes sales of next generation version of Rituxan -Gazyva | CHO | Roche and Biogen Idec | 8.678 billion | Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and rheumatoid arthritis |
| 4 | Enbrel (etanercept) | CHO | Amgen and Pfizer | 8.538 billion | Moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis |
| 5 | Lantus (insulin glargine) | E.coli | Sanofi | 7.279 billion | Once daily treatment for diabetes |
| 6 | Avastin (bevacizumab) | CHO | Roche | 6.957 billion | Metastatic colorectal cancer (colon cancer), non–small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma & metastatic kidney |
| 7 | Herceptin (trastuzumab) | CHO | Roche | 6.793 billion | HER2-positive breast cancer and HER2-positive metastatic gastric cancer |
| 8 | Neulasta/Neupogen (pegfilgrastim) | E.coli | Amgen and Kyowa Hakko Kirin | 5.857 billion | Neutropenia caused by cancer chemotherapy |
| 9 | Prevnar 13/Prevenar 13 and Prevnar/Prevenar (7-valent) | Pfizer | 4.464 billion | Prevention of diseases caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae serotypes 1, 3, 4, 5, 6A, 6B, 7F, 9V, 14, 18C, 19A, 19F, and 23F in children ages six weeks through 17 years; prevention of otitis media caused by strains 4, 6B, 9V, 14, 18C, 19F, and 23F in children six weeks through five years; prevention of pneumococcal pneumonia and invasive disease caused by the 13 vaccine strains in adults ages 50 and older | |
| 10 | Avonex (interferon beta-1a) | CHO | Biogen Idec | 3.013.1 billion | Relapsing forms of MS, to slow accumulation of physical disability and decrease frequency of clinical exacerbations |
There was no change from last year’s top eight best selling biologics to this year’s list – “Biologics Still on Top in Best Selling Drugs of 2013“.
In the last three years that we have been covering this topic, biologics continue to grow in sales. With the consistency in sales of these top biologics, do any biologics currently in the pipeline have the ability to crack the top eight?
Last year 11 biologics received approval from the FDA CDER, see our blog, 2014 FDA New Drug Approvals – 11 Biologics Receive Approval, for more details. Do any of these blogs have the potential to rank at the top of the best selling drugs list?