Cancer drug Avastin tops forecast for 2014's top-selling drugs worldwide

It’s not the most expensive drug, but according to consensus sales forecasts from financial analysts compiled by Thomson Reuters, Roche’s cancer drug Avastin will secure the spot for the world’s top-selling drug in 2014, with a forecasted $8.9B in sales. Roche dominates the list with three drugs—joining Avastin are cancer drugs Rituxan and Herceptin.

World’s Top-Selling Drugs in 2014

1. Avastin (Roche), $8.9B - cancer

2. Humira (Abbott), $8.5B - arthritis

3. Enbrel (Pfizer/Amgen), $8B - arthritis

4. Crestor (AstraZeneca), $7.7B - cholesterol

5. Remicade (Merck/J&J), $7.6B - arthritis

6. Rituxan (Roche), $7.4B - cancer

7. Lantus (Sanofi-Aventis), $7.1B - diabetes

8. Advair (GlaxoSmithKline), $6.8B - asthma/COPD

9. Herceptin (Roche), $6.4B - cancer

10. NovoLog (Novo Nordisk), $5.7B - diabetes

Topping the 2010 forecast, also compiled by Reuters, is Pfizer’s Lipitor, with an estimated $11.7B in sales. The cholesterol drug was the seventh most prescribed drug in the US in 2009, according to IMS Health.

Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Plavix snagged second place on Reuters’ 2010 list of top sellers, with an estimated $9.6B in sales. The anticlotting agent, along with Lipitor and Novartis’ blood pressure medication Diovan, are the only three that appear on the 2010 list but not on the 2014 list. The patents for Lipitor and Plavix expire next year, while the patent for Diovan expires in 2012.