Top pharmaceutical products by sales worldwide 2023
Humira
Humira is used mostly for the treatment of rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis. However, like many other top drugs, the range of medical conditions it can be used to treat is much larger. Thus, the drug is also used to treat Crohn’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, uveitis, and some other autoimmune diseases. Humira is administered subcutaneously via injection. It was approved for the first time in 2002 in the United States.
Blockbuster drug reliance
Blockbuster drugs often have a large impact on the manufacturer. In some cases, pharmaceutical companies are highly dependent on their sales performance. In the case of Humira, AbbVie generates over 36 percent of its total revenue from this drug and over 53 percent from its top three products. Companies that depend on a small number of blockbuster drugs could be under threat of heavy revenue loss. Biosimilars of Humira (adalimumab) are already available and will take more and more of the market in the years to come. However, Humira has exceeded the 20 billion-dollar-revenue mark in contrast to some predictions made years ago.