Sales of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom increased by 8 per cent in 1999, the fastest growth in the major European markets, according to figures from IMS Health. Total sales in the UK were $11bn (£7.3bn), representing 3 per cent of global sales.
Sales in the United States, the world's largest market, grew by 17 per cent to $130.1bn, 39 per cent of the global market. Sales in Japan grew by 23 per cent to $53.5bn after three years of falling sales.
The best-selling class of medicines was antiulcerants with sales of $15.8bn, 5.3 per cent of global sales. This included Losec (omeprazole) which remained the world's number one selling drug. Sales of lipid lowering drugs increased by 21 per cent to $13.4bn and antidepressants rose 17 per cent to $11.7bn.
The 10 best selling medicines in 1999 were (in rank order): Losec (omeprazole, $5.7bn), Zocor (simvastatin, $3.9bn), Lipitor (atorvastatin, $3.8bn), Norvasc (amlodipine, $3bn), Prozac (fluoxetine, $2.9bn), Ogastro (lansoprazole, $2.3bn), Seroxat (paroxetine, $2.1bn), Zoloft (sertraline, $2bn), Claritin (loratadine, $2bn), and Zyprexa (olanzapine, $1.9bn).
IMS Health world review 2000 (www.imshealth.com).