Top 200 Drugs for 2008 by Sales

Rank	Drug	Total Retail Dollars ($000)	% change from 2007
1	Lipitor	5,880,128	-4.6%
2	Nexium	4,794,450	10.1%
3	Plavix	3,796,221	23.1%
4	Advair Diskus	3,572,473	5.4%
5	Prevacid	3,295,465	-0.6%
6	Seroquel	2,908,971	15.5%
7	Singulair	2,898,060	1.2%
8	Effexor XR	2,657,729	7.8%
9	OxyContin	2,502,982	139.8%
10	Actos	2,447,602	9.8%
11	Lexapro	2,412,048	4.7%
12	Abilify	2,371,795	33.1%
13	Topamax	2,177,348	18.5%
14	Cymbalta	2,170,162	25.2%
15	Zyprexa	1,748,259	10.7%
16	Valtrex	1,684,192	20.7%
17	Crestor	1,676,553	22.6%
18	Vytorin	1,545,643	-20.3%
19	Lamictal	1,539,101	-10.4%
20	Celebrex	1,526,818	7.8%
21	Lantus	1,475,110	13.2%
22	Levaquin	1,461,080	2.0%
23	Adderall XR	1,446,629	12.2%
24	Lyrica	1,389,205	38.9%
25	Diovan	1,283,141	14.8%
26	Tricor	1,249,299	12.9%
27	Flomax	1,236,963	23.4%
28	Risperdal	1,221,505	-31.8%
29	Diovan HCT	1,212,308	15.3%
30	Zetia	1,183,627	-15.8%
31	Aricept	1,149,221	16.9%
32	Spiriva	1,142,746	31.6%
33	Concerta	1,103,973	7.1%
34	Aciphex	1,052,133	-4.3%
35	Imitrex Oral	972,778	2.3%
36	Lidoderm	970,208	20.1%
37	Keppra	940,941	32.8%
38	Viagra	920,051	11.5%
39	Atripla	915,561	48.3%
40	Lovenox	913,764	22.5%
41	Januvia	913,501	93.7%
42	Nasonex	904,074	1.3%
43	Ambien CR	865,719	-1.2%
44	Provigil	846,089	13.6%
45	Geodon	797,100	19.9%
46	Truvada	775,787	28.0%
47	Lunesta	771,019	8.2%
48	Enbrel	763,927	-12.7%
49	Actonel	714,977	-9.6%
50	CellCept	711,530	18.7%
51	Humalog	702,798	18.7%
52	Detrol LA	696,934	9.6%
53	Depakote ER	692,472	20.0%
54	Cozaar	690,028	5.8%
55	Pulmicort Respules	651,024	9.9%
56	Niaspan	638,816	16.9%
57	Wellbutrin XL	613,694	-38.2%
58	Chantix	605,323	-20.8%
59	Budeprion XL	595,206	10.8%
60	Byetta	594,736	9.9%
61	Yaz	585,421	129.9%
62	Prograf	584,703	13.3%
63	Namenda	582,468	18.9%
64	Arimidex	568,846	12.3%
65	Combivent	558,351	4.6%
66	Cialis	555,080	22.5%
67	Flovent HFA	553,050	6.1%
68	Protonix	552,903	-74.1%
69	Premarin Tabs	548,917	-1.5%
70	Suboxone	531,808	88.4%
71	Hyzaar	528,401	5.7%
72	ProAir HFA	527,655	25.3%
73	Reyataz	519,398	18.4%
74	Benicar HCT	515,213	24.4%
75	Synthroid	514,887	-6.0%
76	Avandia	513,715	-53.7%
77	Boniva	512,179	26.7%
78	Strattera	511,612	-4.5%
79	Polymagma Plain	507,096	NA
80	Skelaxin	501,310	-3.1%
81	Evista	499,924	-0.7%
82	Asacol	463,747	10.2%
83	Depakote	456,909	-20.4%
84	Xalatan	456,321	5.9%
85	Humira	455,911	-1.4%
86	Benicar	455,408	23.2%
87	Gleevec	450,576	17.2%
88	AndroGel	441,168	20.5%
89	Enbrel Sureclick	433,792	47.9%
90	Avelox	428,793	1.0%
91	Fentanyl	423,743	3.8%
92	Lovaza	417,542	65.2%
93	RenaGel	408,552	39.2%
94	Avapro	405,557	5.4%
95	Humira Pen	381,397	99.4%
96	Vyvanse	374,990	486.1%
97	Kaletra	373,122	0.0%
98	Xopenex	371,995	4.9%
99	Copaxone	370,479	22.1%
100	Avodart	364,706	29.6%
101	Femara	360,993	23.0%
102	Avalide	355,748	8.2%
103	Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo	350,375	-5.7%
104	Sensipar	348,365	30.8%
105	Aldara	347,587	20.9%
106	NovoLog Mix 70/30	347,106	18.7%
107	Restasis	339,110	23.4%
108	Mirapex	335,293	34.2%
109	Yasmin 28	328,905	-37.7%
110	Solodyn	316,079	40.8%
111	Lantus SoloSTAR	315,946	829.5%
112	Norvir	311,245	13.1%
113	Focalin XR	310,010	24.5%
114	Actoplus Met	301,258	31.1%
115	Vesicare	299,147	45.5%
116	Forteo	291,621	3.3%
117	Allegra-D 12 Hour	288,202	-9.0%
118	Procrit	287,898	-18.5%
119	Nasacort AQ	285,359	-10.4%
120	Tarceva	276,875	4.9%
121	Combivir	275,844	-13.3%
122	Tamiflu	275,121	138.3%
123	Avonex	273,303	2.4%
124	NuvaRing	267,259	15.9%
125	Coreg CR	265,844	83.5%
126	Epzicom	265,252	15.0%
127	Levemir	256,142	103.5%
128	Duragesic	251,699	-17.8%
129	Risperdal Consta	250,948	29.5%
130	Zyvox	249,712	5.6%
131	Tussionex	246,583	37.5%
132	Invega	246,052	146.4%
133	Fosamax	244,850	-81.9%
134	Kadian	244,504	27.9%
135	Levitra	239,860	21.4%
136	Differin	239,747	27.4%
137	Astelin	239,404	9.1%
138	Lumigan	238,436	5.1%
139	Symbicort	237,955	683.9%
140	Janumet	237,426	379.2%
141	Xeloda	236,302	17.3%
142	Clarinex	233,417	-19.2%
143	Proventil HFA	227,833	66.4%
144	Humalog Mix 75/25 Pen	226,996	11.1%
145	BenzaClin	225,984	6.0%
146	Vigamox	220,720	6.6%
147	Fosamax Plus D	218,738	-4.9%
148	Maxalt	218,686	23.7%
149	Cosopt	218,315	-10.1%
150	Requip	213,127	-47.7%
151	Relpax	213,123	0.3%
152	Patanol	211,608	-18.2%
153	Casodex	210,830	1.6%
154	Welchol	209,309	29.4%
155	Ciprodex Otic	207,845	19.3%
156	Viread	207,458	-1.6%
157	Catapres-TTS	204,665	9.2%
158	Loestrin 24 Fe	200,272	42.0%
159	Thalomid	198,528	-10.9%
160	Alphagan P	195,794	5.2%
161	Endocet	194,559	0.3%
162	Revlimid	194,505	99.8%
163	Avandamet	192,785	-29.9%
164	Maxalt MLT	192,378	19.0%
165	Altace	191,053	-73.1%
166	Budeprion SR	188,956	-6.2%
167	Pegasys	188,011	20.5%
168	Ultram ER	185,318	19.2%
169	Fentora	185,244	25.6%
170	Asmanex	185,244	14.9%
171	Rhinocort Aqua	184,397	-18.3%
172	Temodar	183,005	5.5%
173	Micardis HCT	180,407	21.8%
174	Sotret	176,782	35.3%
175	Trizivir	176,538	-13.1%
176	Enablex	176,293	19.6%
177	Isentress	175,457	>999
178	Tobradex	175,251	1.4%
179	Trileptal	170,422	-68.0%
180	Sustiva	169,984	-15.0%
181	Amitiza	169,610	41.3%
182	Micardis	165,979	18.7%
183	Zovirax Topical	164,974	8.6%
184	Ocella	164,399	NA
185	Propecia	163,166	13.7%
186	Taclonex	161,674	23.4%
187	Actiq	161,532	-29.8%
188	Valcyte	160,605	15.3%
189	Klor-Con	159,584	0.2%
190	Atacand	159,583	-0.7%
191	Doryx	158,466	20.4%
192	Veramyst	158,347	289.8%
193	Avinza	157,224	7.9%
194	Allegra-D 24 Hour	156,445	5.7%
195	Opana Er	155,662	126.7%
196	Zomig	153,913	6.7%
197	Humulin 70/30	153,026	7.2%
198	Prempro	152,633	5.4%
199	Humulin N	152,147	1.5%
200	Xopenex HFA	151,919	25.8%
	All Others	26,307,000	-15.0%
Source: Verispan, VONA

FDA Staff Asks President to Straighten Up Agency

The clearance or approval of medical devices that was not made in accordance with federal laws, rules and regulations needs to be revisited, according to a recent letter sent to President Barack Obama by disgruntled FDA employees. This is the second letter FDA employees have written to the president. “The culture of wrongdoing and cover-up is nothing new, but is part of a longstanding pattern of behavior,” the letter says.

Update on Ipsen's botulinum toxin type A Product Regulatory Review Status in the US

Ipsen (Paris:IPN) and its partner Medicis (NYSE: MRX) announced today that the companies are in active labeling and Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy ("REMS") discussions with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) related to the Biologics License Application (“BLA”) for Ipsen’s botulinum toxin type A product in both therapeutic and aesthetic indications.