The 10 Most
The top 10 medications by number of monthly
prescriptions are:
Synthroid (levothyroxine), 21.5 million
Crestor (rosuvastatin), 21.4 million
Ventolin HFA (albuterol), 18.2 million
Nexium (esomeprazole), 15.2 million
Advair Diskus (fluticasone), 13.7 million
Lantus Solostar (insulin glargine), 10.9 million
Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine), 10.4 million
Lyrica (pregabalin), 10.0 million
Spiriva Handihaler (tiotropium), 9.6 million
Januvia (sitagliptin), 9.1 million
The top 10 meds by sales are:
Humira (adalimumab), $8.2 billion
Abilify (aripiprazole), $7.9 billion
Sovaldi (sofosbuvir), $6.9 billion
Crestor (rosuvastatin), $5.9 billion
Enbrel (etanercept), $5.9 billion
Harvoni (ledipasvir and sofosbuvir), $5.3
billion
Nexium (esomeprazole), $5.3 billion
Advair Diskus (fluticasone), $4.7 billion
Lantus Solostar (insulin glargine), $4.7 billion
Remicade (infliximab), $4.6 billion
Prescribed Drugs
Most-Prescribed Drug List Differs From
List of Drugs With Biggest Market Share
By Daniel J. DeNoon
From the WebMD Archives
April 20, 2011 -- The 10 most prescribed
drugs in the U.S. aren't the drugs on which
we spend the most, according to a report
from the IMS Institute for Healthcare
Informatics.
The institute is the public face of IMS, a
pharmaceutical market intelligence firm. Its
latest report provides a wealth of data on
U.S. prescription drug use.
Continuing a major trend, IMS finds that
78% of the nearly 4 billion U.S.
prescriptions written in 2010 were for
generic drugs (both unbranded and those
still sold under a brand name). In order of
number of prescriptions written in 2010, the
10 most-prescribed drugs in the U.S. are:
Hydrocodone (combined with
acetaminophen) -- 131.2 million
prescriptions
Generic Zocor (simvastatin), a
cholesterol-lowering statin drug --
94.1 million prescriptions
Lisinopril (brand names include
Prinivil and Zestril), a blood pressure
drug -- 87.4 million prescriptions
Generic Synthroid (levothyroxine
sodium), synthetic thyroid hormone -
- 70.5 million prescriptions
Generic Norvasc (amlodipine
besylate), an angina/blood pressure
drug -- 57.2 million prescriptions
 Generic Prilosec (omeprazole), an
antacid drug -- 53.4 million
prescriptions (does not include over-
the-counter sales)
Azithromycin (brand names include
Z-Pak and Zithromax), an antibiotic -
Crestor, a cholesterol-lowering statin
drug -- $3.8 billion
Actos, a diabetes drug -- $3.5 billion
Epogen, an injectable anemia drug --
$3.3 billion

- 52.6 million prescriptions
Amoxicillin (various brand names), Top 100 Most
an antibiotic -- 52.3 million
prescriptions Prescribed, Top
Generic Glucophage (metformin), a
diabetes drug -- 48.3 million Selling Drugs
prescriptions
Hydrochlorothiazide (various brand Megan Brooks
names), a water pill used to lower
blood pressure -- 47.8 million May 13, 2014
prescriptions.
The hypothyroid medication levothyroxine
(Synthroid, AbbVie) continues to be the
nation's most prescribed drug, and the
The 10 Best-Selling Drugs antipsychotic aripiprazole (Abilify, Otsuka
Pharmaceutical) continues to have the
highest sales, at nearly $6.9 billion,
It shouldn't be a surprise that these generic
according to the latest data from research
drugs are not the ones bringing in the big
firm IMS Health.
bucks for pharmaceutical companies. The
drugs on which we spend the most money
The data reflect a rolling 12 months of
are those that are still new enough to be
history (April 2013 - March 2014) on the top
protected against generic competition.
100 drugs by total sales and total
prescriptions in the United States.
The IMS reports that Americans spent $307
billion on prescription drugs in 2010. The 10
Following levothyroxine (with just more
drugs on which we spent the most were:
than 23 million prescriptions) as most
prescribed drug in the United States were
Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering statin
the cholesterol-lowering drug rosuvastatin
drug -- $7.2 billion
(Crestor, AstraZeneca), at about 22.9
Nexium, an antacid drug -- $6.3
million; the proton pump inhibitor
billion
esomeprazole (Nexium, AstraZeneca), at
Plavix, a blood thinner -- $6.1 billion
roughly 19.3 million; the asthma medication
Advair Diskus, an asthma inhaler --
albuterol (Ventolin HFA, GlaxoSmithKline),
$4.7 billion
at about 17.5 million; and the chronic
Abilify, an antipsychotic drug -- $4.6
obstructive pulmonary disease medication
billion
fluticasone/salmeterol (Advair Diskus,
Seroquel, an antipsychotic drug --
GlaxoSmithKline), at more than 15.5
$4.4 billion
million.
Singulair, an oral asthma drug -- $4.1
billion
Rounding out the top 10 most prescribed 8 Cymbalta $4,095,537,942
drugs for the period were the antidepressant
duloxetine (Cymbalta, Eli Lilly), the 9 Copaxone $3,679,837,035
antihypertensive valsartan (Diovan,
Novartis), the attention deficit drug 10 Neulasta $3,634,919,067
lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (Vyvanse,
11 Lantus Solostar $3,375,632,862
Shire), insulin glargine injection (Lantus
Solostar, sanofi-aventis), and the 12 Rituxan $3,320,475,967
antiepileptic pregabalin (Lyrica, Pfizer).
13 Spiriva Handihaler $3,140,602,715
After aripiprazole, the next best selling
drugs for the period April 2013 through 14 Januvia $2,975,320,499
March 2014 were esomeprazole magnesium
(Nexium, AstraZeneca) at nearly $6.3 15 Atripla $2,894,627,347
billion, and the arthritis drug adalimumab
(Humira, AbbVie), at $5.9 billion. 16 Lantus $2,796,784,267

17 Avastin $2,742,284,655
Rounding out the top 10 in sales were
Crestor ($5.5 billion), Advair Diskus ($5.1 18 Lyrica $2,611,451,728
billion), the arthritis drugs etanercept
(Enbrel, Amgen; almost $4.9 billion) and 19 Oxycontin $2,528,601,587
infliximab (Remicade, Centocor; $4.2
billion), Cymbalta ($4.1 billion), the 20 Epogen $2,346,224,521
multiple sclerosis drug glatiramer acetate
(Copaxone, Teva Pharm; almost $3.7 21 Celebrex $2,342,549,444
billion), and the neutropenia drug
pegfilgrastim (Neulasta, Amgen; $3.6 22 Truvada $2,307,970,304
billion).
23 Diovan $2,190,542,692
Table 1. Top 100 Drugs by Sales
24 Gleevec $1,995,042,989
Drug (Brand Sales Through March
Rank 25 Herceptin $1,971,724,243
Name) 2014
26 Lucentis $1,917,919,037
1 Abilify $6,885,243,368
27 Namenda $1,871,956,353
2 Nexium $6,271,376,299
28 Vyvanse $1,848,814,801
3 Humira $5,936,288,498
29 Zetia $1,826,260,072
4 Crestor $5,502,148,010
30 Levemir $1,775,037,064
5 Advair Diskus $5,112,576,549
31 Symbicort $1,733,830,589
6 Enbrel $4,896,267,318
32 Sovaldi $1,724,867,241
7 Remicade $4,235,535,358
33 Novolog Flexpen $1,482,659,229 58 Neupogen $944,389,150

34 Novolog $1,409,680,368 59 Reyataz $935,417,307

35 Tecfidera $1,394,704,148 60 Lunesta $927,689,337

36 Suboxone $1,388,805,102 61 Synthroid $899,215,664

37 Humalog $1,310,236,982 62 Pradaxa $862,604,444

38 Xarelto $1,263,697,546 63 Zytiga $861,683,197

39 Seroquel XR $1,251,615,894 64 Benicar $860,761,655

40 Viagra $1,235,125,299 65 Xolair $859,052,353

41 Alimta $1,205,717,422 66 Avonex Pen $849,256,894

42 Victoza 3-Pak $1,186,784,355 67 Vytorin $846,602,646

43 Avonex $1,184,476,004 68 Invega Sustenna $831,061,694

44 Nasonex $1,180,165,756 69 Sensipar $824,871,721

45 Cialis $1,170,843,904 70 Xgeva $822,603,435

46 Gilenya $1,097,409,827 71 Prevnar 13 $821,372,081

47 Stelara $1,083,660,282 72 Evista $815,315,970

48 Flovent HFA $1,078,422,967 73 Aranesp $814,017,366

49 Prezista $1,046,464,870 74 Betaseron $792,093,855

50 Procrit $1,037,298,436 75 Stribild $785,645,319

51 Isentress $1,037,220,122 Combivent

76 $768,925,543
Respimat
52 Janumet $1,028,179,032
77 Xeloda $761,832,629
53 Renvela $1,023,751,529
78 Afinitor $761,796,538
54 Humalog Kwikpen $1,003,100,788
79 Ventolin HFA $761,324,992
55 Orencia $990,449,529
80 Synagis $755,220,544
56 Dexilant $967,408,551
81 Zyvox $732,206,096
57 Vesicare $967,408,277
82 Bystolic $719,917,435

83 Sandostatin LAR $708,264,105

84 Complera $696,270,123

85 Benicar HCT $692,128,910

86 Treanda $691,670,874

87 Gardasil $683,558,728

88 Zostavax $679,653,129

89 Pristiq $660,397,547

90 Erbitux $660,368,777

91 Focalin XR $647,720,027

92 Tarceva $646,108,218

93 Cubicin $643,649,546

94 Strattera $640,562,124

95 Latuda $639,903,393

96 Velcade $624,619,639

97 Viread $606,046,798

98 Welchol $603,644,260

99 Nuvaring $600,191,343

100 Sprycel $599,882,414