Global pharmaceutical sales grew 5 percent in the 12 months to August in leading markets, IMS Health said this week.
Sales through retail pharmacies in 13 leading markets, which account for more than two-thirds of the world market, totaled $364 billion in the period.
The single largest drug class was cholesterol-lowering medicines, which sold $27.8 billion and showed a growth rate of 8.2 percent, a slight decrease, from the previous 12-month period.
Pfizer’s Lipitor cholesterol pill remained the world’s best-selling drug, with global sales of $11.2 billion, followed by Merck’s Zocor, AstraZeneca’s Nexium, Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Plavix, and GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair/Seretide.
Global pharmaceutical sales up 5 percent: IMS Health
Global pharmaceutical sales grew 5 percent in the 12 months to August in leading markets, IMS Health said this week.
