US sales of prescription drugs were
up 15%
to $145 billion in 2000,
according to a report released on May 31 by pharmaceutical
market research firm IMS Health. The increase was driven
mainly by sales of cholesterol
fighters, which registered $9
billion in sales.
While AstraZeneca's ulcer drug Prilosec
(omeprazole), the world's top-selling medication, once again
led overall sales with $4.6 billion, Pfizer's cholesterol
drug Lipitor (atorvastatin) placed a close second with sales
of $4.1 billion.
Of the total increase in prescription
sales last year in the US, 9% resulted from a higher
number of prescriptions written, with only 4%
due to price increases and 2% resulting from new medicines,
IMS said.
The IMS report also ranked New York-based
Pfizer as the top-seller of prescription drugs in the US
in 2000, with $15.3 billion in sales. While third in overall
US sales last year, Merck & Co., of Whitehouse Station,
New Jersey, had the greatest increase in US sales, rising
22% over 1999 to $11 billion, according to the report.
Reuters
June 2, 2001