Scrip 100
Pf_i zer clings to top spot
2007 saw very little change to the ranking of the top companies, although there are signs that
competition for the number one spot is hotting up, reports Dr Peter Charlish
D
espite a 1.5% dip in its competition to its older products, with sales of company not only had to contend with generic
pharmaceutical sales, Pfizer managed Norvasc (the antihypertensive, amlodipine competition to the likes of Flonase (the
to hold on to the top spot in the besylate) and Zoloft (the antidepressant, intranasal rhinitis treatment, fluticasone
Scrip 100 list of top pharmaceutical sertraline) alone falling by $3.44 billion in the propionate), Wellbutrin XL (the antidepressant,
companies for 2007, which ranks firms full year. Sales of Lipitor (the hypolipaemic, bupropion), Zofran (the anti-emetic
according to their sales of prescription atorvastatin) were impacted by the appearance ondansetron) and Coreg IR (the alpha/beta-
pharmaceutical products. Pfizer’s of generic versions of its main competitor, adrenergic blocking agent carvedilol), but it also
pharmaceutical sales for 2007 stood at Merck & Co’s Zocor (simvastatin), although in suffered a 22% decrease in global sales of its
$44.42 billion. But the gap between Pfizer this case the impact was somewhat cushioned diabetes drug Avandia (rosiglitazone maleate)
and its main rival for the number one by the weakness of the US dollar, which following an article in The New England Journal
position, GlaxoSmithKline, narrowed as GSK inflated foreign sales. And, of course, Pfizer was of Medicine that suggested there may be a
reported a 4.0% rise in sales to $38.5 billion. also hit by the decision to terminate its inhaled cardiovascular risk associated with its use. The
The decline in Pfizer’s pharmaceutical sales insulin product, Exubera, in October 2007. Not impact of these factors is likely to continue to
was largely the result of growing generic that 2007 was an easy year for GSK. The be felt in 2008.
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