The Best Selling Drugs Since 1996 -Humira eclipsea Lipitor

Since 1996, the pharmaceutical industry has launched 18 products that have subsequently generated peak annual sales of $5 billion or above. 

 Based on historical company reported sales data, through to 2012, these 18 drugs have generated combined lifetime revenues worth a staggering $942 billion. 

 Assessing the industry’s biggest ever products by lifetime sales, rather than peak annual performance, further confirms the status of Pfizer  Lipitor as the most commercially successful drug of all time. Over the course of its lifetime, Lipitor has generated global sales of $141 billion – nearly double that of its closest competitor in the list, Bristol-Myers Squibb  and Sanofi Plavix.

Clearly this analysis is distorted to some extent by the earlier launch date of Lipitor (in 1996). However, if we look at cumulative sales during the first 10 years of availability, Lipitor still comes out on top (revenues of $73 billion) albeit by a significantly slimmer margin; the more recent launches of AbbVie’s Humira (2003) and Merck & Co.’s Januvia (2006) are positioned in second and third place with cumulative 10-year sales totals of $64 billion and $50 billion, respectively (although it is worth noting that post-2012 revenues are based on consensus forecasts sourced from Bloomberg ).

Based on consensus forecasts, AbbVie’s Humira is expected to generate global sales of $134 billion during its first 15 years of availability (at which point analysts expect the drug to have eclipsed Lipitor in terms of peak annual performance, with sales forecast to rise above $14 billion by 2017). With Humira’s biologic status set to insulate the franchise from a steep generic-driven decline, it is likely that by 2020, AbbVie’s product will have broken more sales records.
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