The cost of prescription drugs is rising continuously in the U.S. One of the biggest reasons behind continuous increase in prescription drugs price is the greater number of specialty drugs introduced by bio pharmaceutical companies in the market. These drugs are used to treat complex or rare chronic conditions. Many of them are biologic i.e., drugs are derived from living cells.
The flip side of the continuous rise in prescription drugs is that pharmaceutical companies are making a lot of money. Here are the top five selling prescription drugs of 2016.
1. Humira® (adalimumab)
Manufacturer: AbbVie
2016 sales: $16.078 billion
2015 sales: $14.012 billion
% Change: 14.7%
2. Harvoni® (ledipasvir 90 mg/sofosbuvir 400 mg)
Manufacturer: Gilead Sciences
2016 sales: $9.081 billion
2015 sales: $13.864 billion
% Change: (34.5%)
3. Enbrel® (etanercept)
Sponsor(s): Amgen and Pfizer
2016 sales: $8.874 billion ($5.965 billion Amgen + $2.909 billion Pfizer)
2015 sales: $8.697 billion ($5.364 billion Amgen + $3.333 billion Pfizer)
% Change: 2.0%
4. Rituxan® (rituximab, MabThera)
Sponsor(s): Roche (Genentech) and Biogen
2016 sales: $8.583 billion ($7.268 billion [CHF 7.300 billion] Roche + $1.315 billion Biogen)
2015 sales: $8.354 billion ($7.015 billion [CHF 7.045 billion] Roche + $1.339 billion Biogen)
% Change: 2.7%
5. Remicade® (infliximab)
Sponsor(s): Johnson & Johnson and Merck
2016 sales: $7.829 billion ($6.561 billion J&J + $1.268 billion Merck)
2015 sales: $8.760 billion ($6.966 billion J&J + $1.794 billion Merck)
% Change: (10.6%)
If you are suffering from chronic pain and need to buy any of these medications, you can use free prescription discount cards to buy your medications. These Rx cards help you save 70-80% of money on prescription drugs. The cards are available for free and are acceptable at almost every pharmacy in the US. Feel free to download Rx cards and use them to buy your prescription medications.
