U.S. Sales by Channel

Source: IMS Health, National Sales Perspectives^TM, 2/2005

Highlights of the top 10 therapeutic classes include the continued reign of cholesterol reducers (statins) as the top therapeutic class, which achieved above-average growth (12% in 2004).  Lipitor® is the top product with $7.7 billion in 2004 and 14% growth, which represents 50% of the entire class.  Other notable events in the top 10 therapeutic classes include the contraction of the Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPIs) market by 3% in 2004.  Prevacid® remains the top PPI with $3.8 billion in 2004, but sales fell 5% in 2004.  Meanwhile, Nexium® is growing strong (23%) and reached $3.8 billion by the end of 2004 (just $20 million behind Prevacid®).  Despite receiving a Black Box Warning from the U.S. FDA in 2004 on treatment of adolescents, the SSRI/SNRI antidepressant class experienced 1% growth.  Zoloft® remains the top product with $3.1 billion in 2004 and 11% growth.  Zyprexa® remains the largest antipsychotic with $2.9 billion in sales, despite having revised its label.  Seizure disorder drugs grew by 19% in 2004 with Neurontin® leading the way with $2.8 billion in 2004.  The Erythropoietins (drugs which stimulate development of red blood cells for the treatment of iron deficiency) grew by 8% in 2004 with Procrit® remaining the largest product with $3.2 billion in 2004.  Despite the negative publicity and the voluntary withdrawal of Vioxx®, the COX-2 inhibitor class was flat for 2004 with sales of over $5.3 billion.  Celebrex® remained the largest product with sales of $2.7 billion and Vioxx® achieved sales of $1.8 billion in the first nine months of the year before being withdrawn on September 29.

Leading 10 Therapeutic Classes by U.S. Sales

Source: IMS Health, IMS National Sales Perspectives^TM, 2/2005

Leading 10 Products by U.S. Sales

Source: IMS Health, IMS National Sales Perspectives^TM, 2/2005

The top 10 corporations remain largely unchanged from 2003 with one notable exception--the addition of Sanofi-Aventis as the seventh-largest company.  The merger of Sanofi and Aventis displaced Eli Lilly from the top 10 list.  The top six companies (Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, AstraZeneca, and Novartis) remain the same as in 2003.  Bristol-Myers Squibb fell from six in 2003 to nine in 2004.  Amgen held the #8 spot with $9.5B in sales.  With 23% growth over 2003, Amgen continued as the fastest-growing company in the Top 10, driven by Enbrel®, Neulasta®, and Aranesp®.  The top corporations include all products and insulin as well as all audited channels. It excludes co-marketing agreements and joint-ventures are assigned to the product owner.

Leading 10 Companies by U.S. Sales

Source: IMS Health, IMS National Sales Perspectives^TM, 2/2005

Prescription growth for generics remained at 10% in 2004 for the third straight year.  The four largest generics companies underperformed the generics sector in terms of growth.  In the top five, only IVAX outperformed the overall generics sector with growth of 21%.

Leading 5 Corporations by Sales of U.S. Generics (Unbranded) 

*Represents prescription pharmaceutical purchases including insulin at wholesale prices by retail, food stores and chains, mass merchandisers, independent pharmacies, mail services, non-federal and federal hospitals, clinics, closed-wall HMOs, long-term care pharmacies, home health care, and prisons/universities. Excludes co-marketing agreements. Joint-ventures assigned to product owner. Data run by custom redesign to include completed mergers and acquisitions.
**Novartis = Sandoz + Lek + Novartis Vision + Novartis Rx

Source: IMS Health, IMS National Sales Perspectives^TM, 2/2005

Of the ten largest new product launches in 2004 in terms of sales, eight were new chemical entities and two were combination drugs (Vytorin^TM and Truvada^TM).  Three of these launches were for cancer, with the two largest being for colorectal cancer -- Erbitux^TM and Avastin^TM. Cymbalta® contributed to a small increase in the depression treatment market when it launched in August, but the market was flat since then, possibly due in part to the Black Box Warning from the U.S. FDA.  Six of the ten were launched in the first half of 2004, but the full impact of these drugs won't been seen until 2005.  More blockbuster drugs are expected to be launched by the end of 2005.

Top 10 NCEs or Combinations Launched in 2004
U.S. Sales Year-to-Date December 2004

The pharmaceutical market grew by 8.3% in 2004, but both the generic and biotechnology sectors grew at faster rates (10% and 17% respectively).  Generic growth was much more significant in 2002 and 2003 (27% and 25% respectively), so generic growth slipped considerably in 2004.  The biotech sector continues to grow at nearly twice the overall market for the second straight year.

Medicare Discount Cards have been used to help pay for an increasing number of prescriptions each month, since the cards were launched in June.  In December, over 3.1 million prescriptions were filled in retail pharmacies with Medicare discount cards, representing 1.2% of all retail prescriptions.

Medicare Discount Cards
Estimated Number of Prescriptions Filled Using These Cards

Note: Prescriptions Filled figures are for retail pharmacies only. This data is not collected from Mail Order or LTC pharmacies.

Medicare Discount Cards became available in June.  Prescriptions dispensed using Medicare Discount Cards grew from 0.5% of senior retail prescriptions in the week of June 11 to 5.1% of senior retail prescriptions in the week of December 31.  Seniors account for approximately 22% of the total retail prescription market.  The number of Medicare Discount Cards grew rapidly in June and July, and continued steady growth in August and September.  The number of cards available has been flat since November.

Medicare Discount Card Retail Rxs are Now 5% of Senior Rxs

U.S. Biotech Sales

Sales of U.S. Generics (Unbranded)