Although three Roche Holding AG cancer drugs were among the top revenue drivers across large pharmaceutical companies in 2017, immunology medicines such as AbbVie Inc.'s Humira still led big companies' drug sales in the year.
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Humira, which treats a range of autoimmune disorders from rheumatoid arthritis to plaque psoriasis and ulcerative colitis, made up the lion's share of immunology sales, exceeding $18 billion in the year. Joined by others including Johnson & Johnson's Remicade, Amgen Inc.'s Enbrel and Novartis AG's Cosentyx, top-selling immunology products accounted for $36.26 billion in revenue across the largest global drugmakers, a nearly $3 billion rise on 2016 figures.
Oncology still saw significant growth in the year, with Merck & Co. Inc.'s Keytruda sales increasing 171% since 2016 to $3.81 billion. It still came behind Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.'s Opdivo, Keytruda's main rival, which made $4.95 billion in the year on 31% growth. The two have been locked in a race for the fast-growing immuno-oncology market.
Overall, top companies' biggest cancer drugs made nearly $35 billion in 2017.
Diabetes medicines followed as the third-highest revenue driver, though sales actually fell year over year as Novo Nordisk A/S's Levemir took an 11.5% hit to sales and Merck's Januvia saw a 4.38% drop.
Novo Nordisk was supported by revenue jumps for its other diabetes products, Victoza and the insulin NovoRapid. Yet the Danish company's management has discussed pricing pressure for the diabetes sector before, warning in their first-half 2017 earnings call that the U.S. insulin market will be challenging in 2018.
Roche and Novo Nordisk were the only two among the analyzed companies with top drug sales entirely in one disease franchise.
AbbVie's top three was rounded out by blood cancer therapy Imbruvica, which is co-marketed with Johnson & Johnson, and its collective hepatitis C franchise, which includes Viekira Pak and the newer, lower-priced Mavyret. Investors have been increasingly concerned about the company's position when Humira's patent runs out in 2022, but AbbVie executives have said a pipeline of products including two new autoimmune therapies and an endometriosis drug will soften the potential Humira sales drop.
Vaccines also comprised a significant part of high-revenue product sales. Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil saw a slight bump despite stalled production after a summer cyberattack that led the company to buy stock back from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sales for Pfizer Inc.'s Prevnar, known as Prevenar globally, slipped marginally as fewer adults were vaccinated for pneumococcal pneumonia. That pressure will continue in 2018, and the company expects flat sales over the year, COO and Director Albert Bourla said in the company's full-year 2017 earnings call.
Pfizer plans to file applications for five biosimilars, or biologically equivalent versions of complex biologic medicines, in the years ahead, including versions of Roche's top three earners, Herceptin, Avastin and Rituxan.
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