TOP 100 DRUGS

The cholesterol-lowering drug rosuvastatin (Crestor, AstraZeneca) was the nation's most prescribed drug over the course of last 12 months, through September, whereas the antipsychotic aripiprazole (Abilify, Otsuka Pharmaceutical) racked up the highest sales — almost $6.4 billion, according to a new report from research firm IMS Health on the top 100 selling drugs in the United States.

New prescriptions and refills of rosuvastatin totalled 23.7 million, edging out the hypothyroid medication levothyroxine (Synthroid, AbbVie) at 23.4 million scripts. Similar to several other drugs in the top 100 list for prescription volume, rosuvastatin also did well in sales, ranking fifth, with $5.3 billion in sales for the 12-month period. In contrast, levothyroxine ranked 52nd in sales despite being heavily prescribed.

The 10 top-selling drugs reflect hardly any change since calendar year 2012, according to IMS Health.

Table 1. Top 100 Drugs by Total Sales

Rank	Drug (brand name)	Sales from October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2013
1	Abilify	$6,391,050,009
2	Nexium	$6,086,840,503
3	Cymbalta	$5,432,152,672
4	Humira	$5,352,226,238
5	Crestor	$5,318,542,115
6	Advair Diskus	$5,114,309,392
7	Enbrel	$4,673,141,322
8	Remicade	$4,058,128,532
9	Copaxone	$3,788,545,102
10	Neulasta	$3,537,574,204
11	Rituxan	$3,298,174,917
12	Spiriva Handihaler	$3,002,430,799
13	Atripla	$2,912,549,658
14	Januvia	$2,825,267,039
15	Lantus Solostar	$2,778,551,072
16	Avastin	$2,690,641,154
17	Oxycontin	$2,637,737,756
18	Lantus	$2,515,137,058
19	Lyrica	$2,324,979,374
20	Truvada	$2,278,264,056
21	Epogen	$2,214,743,254
22	Celebrex	$2,183,115,416
23	Diovan	$2,137,198,878
24	Herceptin	$1,933,127,070
25	Namenda	$1,900,527,136
26	Gleevec	$1,874,835,782
27	Lucentis	$1,794,896,441
28	Vyvanse	$1,709,395,031
29	Zetia	$1,652,217,183
30	Suboxone	$1,554,971,998
31	Symbicort	$1,525,311,056
32	Levemir	$1,447,476,053
33	Avonex	$1,347,267,771
34	Novolog	$1,330,347,675
35	Novolog Flexpen	$1,317,460,587
36	Seroquel XR	$1,219,959,533
37	Alimta	$1,200,106,356
38	Viagra	$1,197,351,402
39	Humalog	$1,142,653,387
40	Nasonex	$1,133,088,155
41	Flovent HFA	$1,059,584,589
42	Cialis	$1,049,194,980
43	Procrit	$1,047,927,348
44	Isentress	$1,017,809,988
45	Neupogen	$972,494,037
46	Reyataz	$968,298,671
47	Janumet	$967,434,639
48	Orencia	$935,878,810
49	Vesicare	$911,521,673
50	Vytorin	$891,763,516
51	Aranesp	$845,994,421
52	Synthroid	$843,417,754
53	Aciphex	$830,120,367
54	Benicar	$827,715,511
55	Lunesta	$822,435,175
56	Evista	$822,388,181
57	Xolair	$800,269,022
58	Betaseron	$799,930,543
59	Sensipar	$763,591,668
60	Synagis	$763,505,631
61	Xeloda	$747,260,480
62	Zyvox	$729,817,082
63	Gardasil	$707,586,150
64	Sandostatin LAR	$696,306,293
65	Combivent	$693,216,113
66	Benicar HCT	$683,792,459
67	Erbitux	$658,837,596
68	Tarceva	$651,732,920
69	Velcade	$622,009,646
70	Strattera	$613,531,907
71	Detrol LA	$571,448,481
72	Varivax	$566,344,845
73	Lipitor	$471,293,545
74	Byetta	$400,292,636
75	Lovenox	$370,800,431
76	Prograf	$369,919,542
77	Zosyn	$356,816,770
78	Actonel	$349,621,765
79	Lamictal	$308,177,881
80	Tricor	$299,617,362
81	Zometa	$294,538,908
82	Diovan HCT	$286,058,196
83	Seroquel	$242,498,198
84	Topamax	$232,384,993
85	Zyprexa	$206,052,247
86	Lexapro	$170,313,029
87	Plavix	$148,143,566
88	Singulair	$142,846,942
89	Effexor XR	$133,445,902
90	Actos	$129,996,717
91	Geodon	$109,697,379
92	Aricept	$106,409,356
93	Provigil	$102,529,766
94	Valtrex	$67,261,819
95	Prevacid	$61,444,102
96	Ambien CR	$56,255,560
97	Eloxatin	$42,499,709
98	Flomax	$32,106,042
99	Taxotere	$25,615,068
100	Levaquin	$13,283,168

Source: IMS Health

Table 2. Top 100 Drugs by Prescription Volume

Rank	Drug (brand name)	Total prescriptions* from October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2013
1	Crestor	23,736,568
2	Synthroid	23,407,581
3	Nexium	20,689,735
4	Cymbalta	19,436,224
5	Ventolin HFA	17,531,384
6	Advair Diskus	16,604,511
7	Diovan	13,101,107
8	Vyvanse	10,409,180
9	Spiriva Handihaler	9,594,938
10	Lantus	9,498,954
11	Lyrica	9,406,166
12	Celebrex	9,288,870
13	Lantus Solostar	9,052,819
14	Abilify	8,922,954
15	Januvia	8,745,980
16	Namenda	8,464,036
17	Nasonex	8,388,973
18	Viagra	7,751,484
19	Zetia	7,714,153
20	Suboxone	7,658,467
21	Cialis	7,469,372
22	Bystolic	6,795,951
23	Tamiflu	6,415,670
24	Flovent HFA	6,154,584
25	Oxycontin	6,005,158
26	Symbicort	5,908,888
27	Dexilant	5,196,874
28	Nuvaring	5,188,089
29	Benicar	5,018,438
30	Levemir	4,749,858
31	Premarin	4,639,414
32	Loestrin 24 FE	4,590,856
33	Proventil HFA	4,402,561
34	Afluria	4,396,084
35	Novolog	4,200,166
36	Thyroid	4,146,906
37	Voltaren Gel	4,087,123
38	Vesicare	4,035,018
39	Benicar HCT	3,961,216
40	Novolog Flexpen	3,796,220
41	Vytorin	3,733,052
42	Lunesta	3,573,075
43	Humalog	3,567,750
44	Focalin XR	3,483,905
45	Toprol-XL	3,426,000
46	Pristiq	3,414,341
47	Ortho-Tri-Cy Lo 28	3,406,933
48	Lumigan	3,265,438
49	Janumet	3,262,008
50	Travatan Z	3,099,633
51	Evista	3,037,813
52	Lo Loestrin FE	2,896,633
53	Xarelto	2,845,724
54	Avodart	2,780,336
55	Pataday	2,747,016
56	Pradaxa	2,688,081
57	Zostavax	2,577,330
58	Combivent	2,564,776
59	Seroquel XR	2,553,562
60	Strattera	2,524,961
61	Detrol LA	2,318,229
62	Trilipix	2,272,817
63	Xopenex HFA	2,249,145
64	Chantix	2,236,551
65	Humalog Kwikpen	2,234,056
66	Lipitor	2,183,138
67	Exforge	2,009,256
68	Exelon	1,893,886
69	Aciphex	1,889,412
70	Welchol	1,849,687
71	Humira	1,840,089
72	Actonel	1,833,889
73	Onglyza	1,780,339
74	Combigan	1,778,837
75	Premarin Vaginal	1,720,394
76	Diovan HCT	1,716,985
77	Victoza 3-Pak	1,684,293
78	Enbrel	1,656,421
79	Truvada	1,608,426
80	Tricor	1,593,716
81	Micardis	1,558,847
82	Azor	1,540,801
83	Alphagan P	1,537,012
84	Patanol	1,482,109
85	Norvir	1,455,910
86	Aggrenox	1,446,475
87	Effient	1,443,887
88	Ranexa	1,421,595
89	Viibryd	1,404,896
90	Dulera	1,381,074
91	Advair HFA	1,332,348
92	Prempro Low Dose	1,314,444
93	Atripla	1,289,014
94	Amitiza	1,287,691
95	Asmanex Twisthaler	1,257,602
96	Levitra	1,257,292
97	Micardis HCT	1,249,265
98	Beyaz-28	1,244,195
99	Ortho Evra 3	1,220,696
100	Humulin N	1,216,524

*New prescriptions and refills

Source: IMS Health