Based on the new IMS World Review, global audited pharma sales grew 12% in 2001 to reach $364.2 billion. North America was again the most dynamic region, with 17% growth to $181.8 billion - half of all global sales.
The IMS World Review tracks actual sales of approximately 90% of all prescription drugs and certain over-the-counter products in more than 70 countries. Proprietary data projection methodologies are then used to estimate total global pharmaceutical sales, which grew to $392 billion in 2001. Audited sales rose 12% at a constant US dollar rate, to $364.2 billion, compared to $321.8 billion in 2000 "The global pharmaceutical industry experienced sustained robust growth in 2001, despite the economic challenges facing some of the world’s leading markets," said Graham Lewis, IMS Vice President, Strategic Consulting. "North America remains the most dynamic region, and while we expect more moderate sales growth in the US this year, it will continue to grow more quickly than other key markets." North America, Europe and Japan accounted for 87% of audited worldwide pharmaceutical consumption in 2001. Setting the pace among the leading regions, North American pharmaceutical sales grew 17% to $181.8 billion, representing half of all global sales in 2001. Europe experienced solid sales growth of 10%, to $88.0 billion, and Japan saw moderate growth of 4%, to $47.6 billion. With $18.9 billion in 2001 pharmaceutical sales, growth in Latin America was flat, while sales in Asia (excluding Japan), Africa and Australia were $27.9 billion, up 9%. 2001 Global pharma sales by region
World Audited Market | 2001 Sales ($bn) | % Global sales ($) | % Growth
(constant $) | | North America | $181.8 | 50% | +17% | | Europe | 88.0 | 24 | +10 | | Japan | 47.6 | 13 | +4 | | Asia, Africa and Australia | 27.9 | 8 | +9 | | Latin America | 18.9 | 5 | +0.1 | | TOTAL | $364.2bn | 100.0% | +12% |
Source: IMS World Review 2002 and IMS Consulting. Sales cover direct and indirect pharmaceutical channel purchases in US dollars from pharmaceutical wholesalers and manufacturers. The figures above represent 52 weeks of sales data, and include prescription and certain OTC data, exclude US home healthcare sales, and represent manufacturer prices. "The sustained growth of the world pharmaceutical market shows that consumers and healthcare professionals continue to appreciate the value of pharmaceuticals as a convenient, cost-effective form of treatment," said Dr Joe Zammit-Lucia, president of Cambridge Pharma Consultancy, an IMS company. "One noticeable trend in 2001 was fewer significant new products reaching the market compared to recent years. Going into 2002, pharma CEOs have three items at the top of their agendas: - improving the productivity of their considerable R&D investments
- getting a better return on their growing marketing and sales expenditures
- and effectively managing global pricing policies that continue to threaten intellectual property rights.
The outlook for the industry as a whole remains positive – but performance will vary significantly among companies." Leading therapy classes The top ten therapy classes accounted for 32% of the total audited world market in 2001. Four of the leading ten - cholesterol & triglyceride reducers, antipsychotics, oral antidiabetics and systemic antihistamines - grew more than 20%, with antipsychotics and oral antidiabetics sales each up 30%. Antihistamines replaced non-narcotic analgesics in the top ten. Antiulcerants totalled $19.5 billion in sales in 2001, and remained the leading therapeutic class worldwide, as it has for the past 11 years. Representing 6% of all audited global pharmaceutical sales, antiulcerant sales were up 14% from 2000. AstraZeneca’s Losec/Prilosec, the world’s leading ulcer product and second best-selling drug overall, accounted for $6.1 billion, or 32%, of all sales in this class. The second-ranked therapy class, cholesterol & triglyceride reducers, grew 22% to $18.9 billion in 2001. Contributing to the growth was strong demand for Pfizer’s Lipitor, the top-selling drug worldwide. Lipitor sales rose 31% to $7.0 billion. Antidepressants, the third-ranked therapy class, experienced 20% growth in 2001, to $15.9 billion. Leading therapy classes in 2001 global pharmaceutical sales* Rank | Audited World Therapy Class | 2001 Sales ($bn) | % Global sales ($) | % Growth
(constant $) | 1 | Antiulcerants | 19.5 | 6% | +14% | 2 | Cholest. & Triglyceride Reducers | 18.9 | 5 | +22 | 3 | Antidepressants | 15.9 | 5 | +20 | 4 | Antirheumatic Non-Steroidals | 10.9 | 3 | +16 | 5 | Calcium Antagonists, Plain | 9.9 | 3 | +4 | 6 | Antipsychotics | 7.7 | 2 | +30 | 7 | Oral Antidiabetics | 7.6 | 2 | +30 | 8 | ACE Inhibitors, Plain | 7.5 | 2 | +5 | 9 | Cephalosporins & Combinations | 6.7 | 2 | 0 | 10 | Antihistamines, Systemic | 6.7 | 2 | +22 | | Total Leading 10 ATCs at Level 3 | $111.3bn | 32 | +16% |
Source: IMS World Review 2002. *Note: The figures above reflect 53 weeks of US sales data instead of 52 weeks, an adjustment that is made every five years to bring IMS’ data tracking methodology into line with the calendar year. As a result, US figures in this table incorporate five additional days of sales. Leading products The top ten best-selling drugs worldwide accounted for $40.2 billion in sales in 2001, a 22% increase over 2000. Within the total audited world market, Lipitor was the top-selling drug in 2001, with $7.0 billion in sales, compared with $5.4 billion in 2000. It overtook Losec/Prilosec, the top-ranked drug in 2000, which achieved 2001 sales of $6.1 billion on flat growth. Merck & Co’s cholesterol-lowering drug Zocor is ranked third, with $5.3 billion in sales and 25% growth. Of the ten best-selling drugs in 2001, the fastest-growing worldwide was Merck’s arthritis drug Vioxx, with sales rising 44% year-over-year to $2.6 billion. Pharmacia and Pfizer’s competing COX-2 inhibitor, Celebrex, generated $3.1 billion in sales, a 32% increase. Vioxx replaced Pfizer’s antidepressant Zoloft as the tenth best-selling product, and due to its US patent expiry, Eli Lilly’s antidepressant Prozac dropped out of the top ten completely, having been the sixth best-selling drug in 2000; Johnson & Johnson’s anemia drug Erypo entered the product list in its stead. Leading products in 2001 global pharmaceutical sales* Rank | Audited World Product Sales | 2001 sales ($bn) | % Growth
(Constant $) | 1 | Lipitor | 7.0 | +31% | 2 | Losec/Prilosec | 6.1 | 0 | 3 | Zocor | 5.3 | +25 | 4 | Norvasc | 3.7 | +14 | 5 | Ogastro/Prevacid | 3.5 | +13 | 6 | Zyprexa | 3.2 | +35 | 7 | Celebrex | 3.1 | +32 | 8 | Erypo | 2.9 | +35 | 9 | Seroxat/Paxil | 2.8 | +19 | 10 | Vioxx | 2.6 | +44 | | Total 10 Leading Products | $40.2bn | +22% |
Source: IMS World Review 2002.
*Note: 53 weeks US sales data as above.
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