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U.S. pharma industry sees prescription sales dip again

By Brian Buntz | December 23, 2020

drug sales

Image courtesy of Christina Victoria Craft on Unsplash

The U.S. pharmaceutical market dipped 4.1% year-over-year in the most recent quarter-to-date figures, according to recent IQVIA research. New prescription sales fell 4.4%.

Brand-name drug sales, however, saw a modest growth rate of 1.8% while generic drug sales, which made up 80% of all sales, fell 4.5% in the quarter.

One bright spot in the most-recent quarter’s numbers is Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE: JNJ) immunology segment. New prescription sales from the division were up 21.1%. Strong performers included dimethyl fumarate (Tecfidera), a multiple sclerosis therapy whose sales were up 23.4%. New prescription sales were even higher — up 47.7% — for the company’s fremanezumab-vfrm (Ajovy) migraine drug.

The overall dip in drug sales comes as the COVID-19 crisis gains momentum in the U.S. and elsewhere, sickening at least 18 million people. According to an assessment from the Economist, the novel coronavirus may have already infected nearly one in five Americans.

The COVID-19 pandemic could, however, provide a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the pharma industry to rebrand itself. The industry is already getting credit for “saving the world,” as Bloomberg recently concluded. COVID-19 vaccines alone could “prevent hundreds of thousands of American deaths and millions more around the world,” that publication concluded.

About The Author

Brian Buntz

The pharma and biotech editor of WTWH Media, Brian is a veteran journalist with more than 15 years of experience covering an array of life science topics, including clinical trials, drug discovery and development and medical devices. Before coming to WTWH, he served as content director focused on connected devices at Informa. In addition, Brian covered the medical device sector for 10 years at UBM. At Qmed, he overhauled the brand’s news coverage and helped to grow the site’s traffic volume dramatically. He had previously held managing editor roles on two of the company’s medical device technology publications. Connect with him on LinkedIn or email at bbuntz@wtwhmedia.com.

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