IMS Health data for 2009 creates an interesting picture of global drug sales and growth in specific therapeutic classes. WBC (wbcbaltimore.com) has taken a look and found that the global picture 
is clearly different when compared to U.S. pharmacy benefit plan sponsor drug spend. In the U.S., antipsychotics were the leading therapeutic class with $14.6 billion in sales. Antilipididemics (like Lipitor, Crestor, simvastatin, etc.) with $14.3 billion is number two; acid reflux (Nexium, Prevacid, etc.) with $13.6 billion in sales comes in at number three; and antidepressants (Cymbalta, Effexor, etc.) holds down the number four spot with $9.9 billion in sales. Surprisingly, oncology agents, while number one globally in sales, ranks number six in the U.S.
Here are the global sales and growth numbers for 2009:
|
Drug Class |
2009 Sales (billions) |
Annual Growth |
|
Oncologics |
$52.37 |
8.8% |
| Lipid Regulators | $35.28 | 4.9% |
| Respiratory Agents | $33.59 | 11.0% |
| Antidiabetics | $30.40 | 13.4% |
| Anti-ulcerants | $29.61 | 0.6% |
| Angiotensin II Antagonists | $25.20 | 11.4% |
| Antipsychotics | $23.24 | 4.6% |
| Antidepressants | $19.41 | -1.3% |
| Autoimmune Agents | $17.96 | 18.0% |
| Platelet Aggr. Inhibitors | $14.60 | 9.0% |
| HIV Antivirals | $13.75 | 14.9% |
| Anti-epileptics | $12.99 | -19.8% |
| Narcotic analgesics | $11.23 | 8.6% |
| Non-narcotic analgesics | $11.17 | 7.3% |
| Erthropoietins | $10.80 | -4.1% |
Data source: IMS Health
