In the USA, levothyroxine remains the most prescribed drug, while aripiprazole (antipsychotic) maintains its leadership in terms of sales, close to 6.9 billion dollars. This is revealed by the data of a research signed by Ims Health which refers to the period between April 2013 and March 2014. Immediately below levothyroxine (which stands at just over 23 million prescriptions) are the rosuvastatin (approximately 22.9 million), esomeprazole (approximately 19.3 million), albuterol (approximately 17.5 million), and fluticasone/salmeterol combination, with more than 15.5 million prescriptions. Completing the picture of the 10 most prescribed drugs in the period examined are duloxetine (antidepressant), valsartan, lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and pregabalin. After aripiprazole, however, the best sellers were esomeprazole (6.3 billion dollars) and adalimumab (5.9), followed by rosuvastatin (5.5), fluticasone/salmeterol (5, 1), etanercept (4.9), infliximab (4.2), duloxetine (4.1), glatiramer acetate (3.7) and pegfilgrastim (3.6). The comparison with the substantially overlapping data for Italy, just presented by Federfarma at Cosmofarma, is interesting. The 10 active ingredients with the highest spending under the NHS agreement in 2013 (expenditure which, overall, was over 1.3 billion euros) were, in descending order: rosuvastatin, salmeterol/fluticasone, pantoprazole, lansoprazole, omeprazole, polyenoic omegas, tiotropium bromide, enoxaparin sodium, ezetimibe/simvastatin, olmesartan medoxomil. The 10 most prescribed active ingredients nationwide were: lansoprazole, pantoprazole, acetylsalicylic acid, omeprazole, ramipril, metformin hydrochloride, amlodipine besilate, furosemide, simvastatin, levothyroxine sodium. In both lists, the changes compared to the previous year were minimal, except for an increase of about 14% in pantoprazole prescriptions, with an increase in the corresponding expense of about 12%.
Arturo Zenorini