Pharmaceutical Industry

U.S. Prescription Sales Grew 3.8 Percent in 2007 to $286.5 Billion

IMS Health, a leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, today released its annual U.S. Pharmaceutical Market Performance ReviewTM, reporting that overall sales growth in the U.S. prescription market moderated to 3.8 percent in 2007, compared with growth of more than 8 percent in 2006. Total U.S. prescription sales reached $286.5 billion, with slower sales growth resulting from loss of exclusivity of branded medicines, fewer new product approvals, the leveling of year-over-year growth from the Medicare Part D program, and the impact of safety issues.

Total U.S. dispensed prescription volume grew at a 2.8 percent pace compared with 4.6 percent in 2006. Antidepressants ranked as the leading therapy class by dispensed prescription volume in 2007. Overall, the top five therapeutic categories -antidepressants, lipid regulators, codeine & combination pain medications, ace inhibitors and beta blockers - continued to lead the market in terms of prescription utilization.

"In 2007, the U.S. pharmaceutical market experienced its lowest growth rate since 1961," said IMS’s Murray Aitken, senior vice president, Healthcare Insight. "The moderating growth trend that began in 2001 resumed last year following the one-time impact on market growth in 2006 from the implementation of Medicare Part D. Last year, we saw a continuing shift away from primary care classes to biotech and specialist-driven therapies, which grew at a 9 percent and 10 percent pace, respectively. Among the leading therapy classes, oncology drugs continued their rapid growth, at 14 percent - the result of innovative new medicines, expanded indications and accelerated uptake of products to fill unmet needs."

With prescription sales of $18.4 billion, lipid regulators continued to be the largest therapy class in the U.S., despite a 15.4 percent year-over-year sales decline. Proton pump inhibitors ranked second, with prescription sales of $14.1 billion and growth of 2.8 percent. Antipsychotics replaced antidepressants as the third-largest therapeutic class in 2007, with prescription sales growth of 12.1 percent to $13.1 billion.

Source: IMS Health, March 12, 2008