Top 10 U.S. Drugs for 2012 First Quarter
Online drug research firm drugs.com today released its list of the top 100 selling drugs in the United States for the first quarter of 2012. The top five sellers include drugs from Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY), AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:…
The list:
- Plavix (BMY) — $1.62 billion in sales
- Nexium (AZN) — $1.40 billion
- Ability (Otsuka) — $1.34 billion
- Singulair (MRK) — $1.24 billion
- Seroquel (AZN) — $1.16 billion
- Advair Diskus (GSK) — $1.14 billion
- Crestor (AZN) — $1.12 billion
- Cymbalta (LLY) — $1.03 billion
- atorvastatin (generic) — $0.95 billion
- Humira (ABT) — $0.93 billion
The biggest gain compared to the fourth quarter of 2011 went to the atorvastatin generic, which saw sales rise by nearly $450,000. The generic has drawn sales from Lipitor, made by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), which lost patent protection last year. Lipitor sales fell by more than $760,000 in the quarter to just over $840,000.
A generic version of Plavix — clopidogrel — recently hit the market, so the top of the rankings may be in for a change later this year.
Paul Ausick
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.
