Top-Selling Drugs 2023: Pharma’s $60bn COVID-19 Cliff

Keytruda Towers At Top Of League

Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty toppled after recording the highest ever annual sales for a pharmaceutical in 2022, while Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic climbed rapidly. But Merck & Co’s immuno-oncology blockbuster Keytruda was secure in the number one spot in 2023 as COVID-19 receded.

Keytruda revenues grew as COVID-19 sales plummeted • Source: Shutterstock

The league table of top-selling drugs by global revenues saw a considerable shake-up in 2023, as COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic sales plummeted, GLP-1 inhibitors took the market by storm, and one-time best-seller Humira lost US patent protection.

One of the most notable features of the top 20 list in 2023 was the huge fall in aggregate revenues....

Scrip Podcast

Keep up with the top pharma business news of the week. On the go.

Scrip brings you a weekly bulletin of top picks.

More from Earnings

Scrip-Business (Free-1): Top-Selling Drugs 2024: Keytruda, Ozempic And Dupixent Dominate

 
• By 

Merck’s immuno-oncology blockbuster was the world’s best-selling drugs by revenues for the second year in a row, with an almost $12bn lead over its closest rival, Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug Ozempic.

Nancy Tests SPARC-1036

Nancy tests Jira ticket SPARC-1036: Make anchor link work on initial page load

Cagrisema Leads The Charge For 2025

 

2030 sales forecasts for Novo’s obesity hope are an order of magnitude larger than its closest rival among 2025’s expected debutantes.  

Small But Mitey: Tarsus To Amp Up Strong Xdemvy Launch

 

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is putting more sales and marketing heft behind its novel eyelid disease therapy, Xdemvy, to capitalize on a solid start in a previously untapped market.    

More from Business

How A New Healthcare Dialogue Is Driving Market Access In Mexico

Companies stand a better chance of securing public reimbursement in Mexico for innovative medicines if they understand changing approaches to healthcare. The shift means the emergence of managed entry agreements and a focus on economic impact, explains AMIIF, Mexico's research-based pharmaceutical industry association.

How Novartis Is Elevating CVD Outcomes, Driving ‘Personalized Access’ In APMA

Novartis’s APMA chief outlines the company’s tailored approach to deliver long-term outcomes, novel access solutions via innovative financing options and shape the CVD disease ecosystem in the extraordinarily diverse region. Partnering to build AI infrastructure is another key prong.

India Rare Diseases: Court Shows Path For Policy Action, Funding, Price Issues-- Test-2

A court order encompassing funding, drug pricing, clinical trials and overall policy implementation aspects is expected to bring about a paradigm shift in the treatment of rare diseases in India. Sarepta, Roche and Sanofi are among the key players that have been part of pricing discussions.