Emerging markets spark growth in global prescription drug sales

According to IMS Health, US with $286.5 billion in sales, accounted for 25.5% of the total sector despite its low prescription drug turnover of 3.8% in 2007. Although the five major European markets – France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Spain – grew only by 4.8% to $140 billion, Russia (+20.2%) and Turkey (+17.2%) registered a spurt in drug sales.

However, the Asian market buoyed by the rapid growth in China (+25.7%), India (+13.0%) and South Korea (+10.7%) grew by 18%. The Latin American markets also climbed by 11.6% to $42.4 billion. Consequently, the world prescription drug market rose 6.4% in 2007 to $712 billion.

Oncology secured the top spot in therapeutic category with $41.4 billion in sales, followed by cholesterol drugs which had revenues of $33.7 billion. And Pfizer’s Lipitor (atorvastatin), Sanofi-Aventis’s Plavix (clopidogrel) and AstraZeneca’s Nexium (esomeprazole) became the top selling brands in 2007.