April 13 (Reuters) - Roche's
cancer drug Avastin is
expected to be the world's biggest-selling drug in 2014, as
today's two top blockbusters -- Lipitor and Plavix -- lose
patent protection in 2011 and 2012.In four years' time, the prescription drug league table will look very different, reflecting the growing commercial dominance of injectable biotech drugs, especially for cancer and rheumatoid arthritis.
Consensus sales forecasts for world's top 10 drugs in 2014: 1. Avastin (cancer) Roche $8.9 bln 2. Humira (arthritis) Abbott$8.5 bln 3. Enbrel (arthritis) Pfizer /Amgen $8.0 bln 4. Crestor (cholesterol) AstraZeneca $7.7 bln 5. Remicade (arthritis) Merck /J&J $7.6 bln 6. Rituxan (cancer) Roche $7.4 bln 7. Lantus (diabetes) Sanofi-Aventis $7.1 bln 8. Advair (asthma/COPD) GlaxoSmithKline $6.8 bln 9. Herceptin (cancer) Roche $6.4 bln 10.NovoLog (diabetes) Novo Nordisk $5.7 bln
Consensus forecasts for 2010:
1. Lipitor (cholesterol) Pfizer $11.7 bln
2. Plavix (anticlotting) Sanofi/Bristol
$9.6 bln
3. Advair (asthma/COPD) GlaxoSmithKline $9.0 bln
4. Remicade (arthritis) Merck/J&J $7.4 bln
5. Enbrel (arthritis) Pfizer/Amgen $7.1 bln
6. Humira (arthritis) Abbott $6.8 bln
7. Avastin (cancer) Roche $6.7 bln
8. Rituxan (cancer) Roche $6.1 bln
9. Diovan (hypertension) Novartis $6.0 bln
10.Crestor (cholesterol) AstraZeneca $5.8 blnSource: Thomson Reuters
(Reporting by Ben Hirschler, Editing by Sitaraman Shankar)
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