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Top 10 best-selling medicines
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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The pharmaceutical industry not only helps people fight diseases, but is also a very profitable business. Ilive presents the top 10 best-selling prescription drugs.
Effexor
This drug belongs to the class of antidepressants, it is used to treat panic disorder, depression and social phobia. Effexor has gained fame as the most popular antidepressant, especially in countries concerned about mental health.
Read also: 8 Things You Need to Know About Antidepressants
Sales of this drug bring the manufacturers about $3.8 billion a year.
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Prevacid
Prevacid is a popular drug that treats heartburn. $4 billion is the annual profit from sales of the drug. Heartburn is not such a rare phenomenon, and its causes can be overeating, excess weight, smoking, alcohol, spicy and too hot food, as well as stress.
Read also: Heartburn and 7 ways to combat it
The principle of operation of this drug is to block acid in the stomach.
Risperdal
Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic drug used to treat bipolar disorder as part of combination therapy. Its sales revenue is $4 billion. Research conducted by scientists involving 290 patients with mental illnesses showed that 41.7% of them felt significant improvements after taking Risperdal.
Zyprexa
This drug is used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Zyprexa is one of Eli Lilly's best-selling drugs. $4.7 billion is the annual profit the manufacturer receives.
Norvask
One of the leading problems in cardiology is the prevention of cardiovascular diseases. The drug called Norvasc is a modern representative of the dihydropyridine family. It is used for coronary heart disease and for the treatment of high blood pressure. Dihydropyridines act as calcium pump blockers in cells, thereby promoting vasodilation and reducing blood flow resistance. The global sales revenue of Norvasc is $5 billion.
Zokor
Zocor is a cholesterol -lowering drug in the same class of statins as Lipitor. Global sales were $5.3 billion.
Seretide
Seretide is a drug that combines fluticasone and salmeterol, two well-known substances used for inhalation in powder form. The anti-asthmatic drug Seretide is a drug in which manufacturers combined the desire to develop not only an effective drug, but also one that is convenient for patients to use.
Annual sales revenue is $5.6 billion, and it is increasing every year.
Nexium
These purple pills are a very popular and effective remedy for heartburn, which is reflected in the income of the manufacturing company - $ 5.7 billion with an annual sales growth of 16.7%.
Plavix
This drug prevents the formation of blood clots, so it is used to prevent heart attacks and strokes. The annual income of the manufacturers is $ 5.9 billion.
Lipitor
Lipitor is a drug that helps Americans realize their national idea - to lower cholesterol levels in the blood, so it is not surprising that Lipitor is the most purchased drug, which provides its manufacturers with excellent profits - $ 12.9 billion - that is how much its manufacturers earn per year.