Note: This feature on the best-selling pharmaceuticals of 2023 was updated on March 27. Changes are possible as more data become available. Sales of drugs with more than one developer are added together (as in the case of the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty) unless one of those companies records the net sales for it, i.e., Dupixent.
2023 may not go down as the brightest year for the pharma sector, but the entry of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic (semaglutide) into the ranks of top-selling drugs like Keytruda, Dupixent, and Eliquis signals a new era in the treatment of metabolic disease. Novo Nordisk’s sales jumped by more than one-third in 2023. Obesity-focused Wegovy (semaglutide) and Lilly’s Mounjaro (tirzepatide) also made it into the top 50. Additionally, in 2023, tirzepatide won FDA approval as an obesity treatment, and in March 2024, semaglutide won an expanded label for cardiovascular risk reduction.The rise of metabolic disease drugs underscores the growing global burden of obesity and diabetes. With Ozempic’s sales reaching $13.9 billion in 2023, a 38% increase, GLP-1 therapies seem poised to play a significant role in the treatment of metabolic disease.
While metabolic disease treatments made significant strides, oncology drugs continued to dominate the list of bestsellers. Keytruda, a strong-selling cancer immunotherapy since the the mid-2010s, maintained its position as the highest-grossing drug with sales of $25 billion, a 19% increase from 2022. Other oncology treatments, such as Darzalex, Opdivo, and Tagrisso, also experienced growth.
It’s likely that the metabolic disease could soon overtake immunology as the second largest sales category in the coming years. On a related note, AbbVie juggernaut Humira had a sales decrease of 32.2% compared to the previous year thanks to biosimilar competition after Humira’s patent exclusivity expired.
Oncology continues to dominate the pharmaceutical landscape
The donut chart below provides a visual representation of 2023 drug sales by category for the top 25 drugs, highlighting the growing prominence of metabolic treatments while also demonstrating the continued dominance of oncology, which accounts for more than one-fifth of top-selling drug sales.
The best-selling pharmaceuticals of 2023
Drug Name | Manufacturer(s) | 2023 Sales (Millions) | 2022 Sales (Millions) | Growth rate % | Indication(s) |
Keytruda (pembrolizumab) | Merck | $25,011 | $20,937 | 19.46 | Various cancers |
Comirnaty (tozinameran) | Pfizer/BioNTech | $15,305 | $37,800 | -59.51 | COVID-19 vaccination. Pfizer sales were $11,220 million and BioNTech’s were about $4,085 million. Growth rate is cumulative for both companies. |
Humira (adalimumab) | AbbVie | $14,404 | $21,237 | -32.17 | Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, plaque psoriasis, and others |
Ozempic (semaglutide) | Novo Nordisk | $13,892 | $10,060 | 38.09 | Type 2 diabetes (off-label for obesity) Wegovy, the semaglutide drug indicated for obesity, generated about $3,321 in revenue in 2023. |
Eylea (aflibercept) | Regeneron/Bayer | $12,875 | $12,721 | 1.21 | Treatment of neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Regeneron sales were $9,381 million and Bayer’s were $3,495 million. |
Eliquis | Bristol Myers Squibb | $12,206 | $11,789 | 3.54 | Anticoagulant |
Biktarvy (bictegravir/emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide) | Gilead Sciences, Inc. | $11,850 | $10,390 | 14.05 | HIV-1 infection |
Dupixent (dupilumab) | Sanofi/Regeneron | $11,590 | $8,681 | 33.51 | Dupixent is approved for treating several inflammatory conditions including atopic dermatitis, asthma, chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps, prurigo nodularis, and eosinophilic esophagitis in specific patient populations. Sanofi records the global net product sales of Dupixent. |
Stelara (ustekinumab) | Johnson & Johnson | $10,858 | $9,723 | 11.67 | Plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis |
Darzalex (daratumumab) & Darzalex Faspro (daratumumab and hyaluronidase-fihj) | Johnson & Johnson | $9,744 | $7,977 | 22.15 | Multiple myeloma |
Opdivo (nivolumab) | Bristol-Myers Squibb | $9,009 | $8,249 | 9.21 | Various cancer indications including lung, bladder, renal, gastric, esophageal, head and neck, colorectal, melanoma, and mesothelioma |
Trikafta/Kaftrio | Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated | $8,945 | $7,687 | 16.36 | Cystic fibrosis treatment |
Gardasil/Gardasil 9 | Merck | $8,886 | $6,897 | 28.84 | Human Papillomavirus prevention |
Skyrizi (risankizumab-rzaa) | AbbVie | $7,763 | $5,165 | 50.3 | Plaque psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, Crohn’s disease |
Invega Sustenna/Xeplion/Invega Trinza/Trevicta | Johnson & Johnson | $7,140 | $4,140 | 72.46 | Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective disorder |
Trulicity (dulaglutide) | Eli Lilly and Company | $7,133 | $7,440 | -4.13 | Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular risk reduction |
Eliquis (apixaban) | Pfizer | $6,747 | $6,480 | 4.12 | Nonvalvular atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism |
Prevnar family (pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine) | Pfizer | $6,440 | $6,337 | 1.63 | Pneumonia, invasive disease, and otitis media caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae |
Revlimid (lenalidomide) | Bristol-Myers Squibb | $6,097 | $9,978 | -38.9 | Multiple myeloma – Lymphoma – Myelodysplastic syndromes |
Entresto (sacubitril/valsartan) | Novartis | $6,035 | $4,644 | 29.95 | Chronic heart failure, hypertension |
Farxiga/Forxiga (dapagliflozin) | AstraZeneca | $5,997 | $4,381 | 36.89 | Type 2 Diabetes, Heart Failure, Chronic Kidney Disease |
Tagrisso (osimertinib) | AstraZeneca | $5,799 | $5,444 | 6.52 | Early-stage EGFRm NSCLC (1st- and 2nd-line treatment of advanced EGFRm NSCLC) |
Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) | Roche | $5,733 | $5,410 | 5.97 | Relapsing or primary progressive multiple sclerosis |
Mounjaro (tirzepatide) | Eli Lilly and Company | $5,163 | $483 | 968.94 | Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. |
Cosentyx (secukinumab) | Novartis | $4,980 | $4,788 | 4.01 | Psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis, |
Filed Under: Drug Discovery, Immunology, Infectious Disease, Oncology