US Prescription Sales Rose 5 Percent In 2009
11 CommentsBy Ed Silverman // April 1st, 2010 // 7:08 am
US prescription sales rose 5.1 percent last year, to $300.3 billion, a big increase from the 1.8 percent rate in 2008, thanks to manufacturer coupons, rebates, price hikes of 3 percent to 4 percent, and low-cost generics, which accounted for 75 percent of all prescriptions. Nonetheless, demand remained at “historically low levels,” according to IMS Health, which released the data.
Overall, the rate at which prescriptions were filled rose 2.1 percent in 2009, to 3.9 billion dispensed, up from 1 percent the previous year. However, another recent report noted that the rate at which scrips were submitted to a pharmacy but never picked up was 6.3 percent, a 24 percent increase over 2008 (see here).
Other contributing factors included inventory management by retail pharmacies; greater use of specialty meds, which now comprise 21 percent of the US market and rose 7.5 percent last year; less impact from patent expirations and no “significant” safety issues to unsettle doctors and patients.
And so which therapeutic classes were big? Antipsychotics remained the top-selling class in the US, with prescription sales of $14.6 billion, same as in 2008. Cholesterol pills were the largest class by dispensed prescription volume, growing at a 5 percent pace to 212 million prescriptions dispensed in 2009. However, sales of these meds fell 10 percent to $13.1 billion as generic usage grew.
Proton pump inhibitors replaced cholesterol drugs as the second-largest therapeutic class in sales, which totaled $13.6 billion, a 2 percent decline, although dispensed prescription volume rose 5 percent. Antidepressants was the fourth-largest class, up from its #5 ranking the prior year, with US prescription sales growth of 3 percent to $9.9 billion. And sales of antineoplastic monoclonal antibodies, which include Avastin, Rituxan and Herceptin, grew 9 percent pace and ranked #6 in therapeutic class sales, according to IMS.
Lisa Van Syckel
Antipsychotics remained the top seller,.. Geee, what a surprise!!!
Lisa Van Syckel
Antidepressants were 4th, up from its #5 ranking, and sales grew 3%. Well that just blew the theory of Industry Apologists who state the presceibing of antidepressants are down, and the suicide rates have risen,hmmmm, I luv it when Im proven right.
Anonymous
The 2009 US Rx sales as reported by IMS are $300.3B, not $330.3B. I think it’s just a typo but thought I’d let you know.
Ed Silverman
Thank you, anonymous. It has been corrected.
Justice in MI
Would someone define “branded generic” for me? I assume that means brand retains exclusive right to manufacture and distribute, but at generic retail cost?
Thank you.
pharmavet
If you buy “Walprofen”, i.e. the Walgreen brand of ibuprofen, that’s one definition of branded generic. Also remember that companies like Novartis own their own generic houses, so that if you buy a Sandoz or Geneva Generic product, the profits revert to NVS.
Some of the price run-up was in anticipation of healthcare reform. I wouldn’t be surprised if there wasn’t also some increased “channel stuffing”, i.e., sales to wholesalers, to make the sales numbers look good.
Evelyn Pringle
So much for the big settlements putting a stop to off-label peddling of antipsychotics, and a big thanks to the FDA for approving these useless but deadly poisons for more indications.
JaT
JiM,
Google can lead you to a few articles on the subject of ‘Branded Generics’ but this is a good place to start:
http://www.ftc.gov/be/healthcare/wp/12_Reiffen_BrandedGenericsAsAStrategy.pdf
JaT
Walprofen really is not a good example. It is a store brand but not really a branded generic. Branded Generics are generally made by or for major manufacturers and are approved via ANDA. I consider New Look Dilantin to be a Branded Generic as it was produced by Pfizer and approved by the Office of Generic Drugs with a reduction in quality that would not meet their own in house protocol.
There appears to be more than one explanation. Call it evolution.
JaT
Also, and this is silly because a generic is a generic as approvals go. AUC markers being the standard.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/16/business/16generic.html
JaT
From the link above:
“Branded generics may appeal to leading drug makers because they represent a hybrid of the generic and name-brand models — allowing drug makers to use their existing commercial distribution system and marketing skills to sell premium-priced generics as if they were brand-name drugs, said Ronny Gal, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Company.”
Cute huh?