Top Manufacturers of Most Prescribed Drugs in Medicare

By Samantha McGrail

September 03, 2021 - As healthcare begins to reimagine reimbursement and cost, it will be essential to understand the therapies that drive them. By looking into the most prescribed drugs in Medicare—and the manufacturers that make them—healthcare and pharmaceutical professionals can start to assess the industry landscape and supply chain.

Medicare Part D drugs derived an estimated net spending of $145 billion in 2019, according to an April 2021 Kaiser Family Foundation analysis. And Medicare Part B, covering less than 600 drug products in 2019, brought in a total of $37 billion.

The top-selling Medicare drugs of all time include treatments for cancer, blood clots, type 2 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, macular degeneration, osteoporosis, and a bone marrow stimulant. Those drugs come from a number of manufacturers, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Roche, AbbVie, Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen, Regeneron, Sanofi, Pfizer, Eli Lilly & Company, Gilead, and Celgene.

Bristol Myers Squibb: Eliquis, Opdivo, Orencia

Bristol Myers Squibb is the top manufacturer of most commonly prescribed Medicare drugs. Over five years, the company launched three drugs that landed in the top 10 most-prescribed Medicare drugs of all time.

In 2014, the FDA approved Bristol Myers Squibb and Pfizer's Eliquis to treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), and to reduce the risk of recurrent DVT and PE following initial therapy

Eliquis is the second most prescribed Medicare drug. As of 2020, Eliquis sales reached $9.8 billion.

In August 2021, the FDA approved Opdivo to treat patients with urothelial carcinoma at high risk of recurrence after undergoing radical resection.

So far, Opdivo has generated about $6.74 billion in total sales and is the eighth most prescribed Medicare drug.

Finally, Bristol Myers Squibb launched Orencia in 2017 for patients two years of age and older with moderate to severely active polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).

Four months after the initial launch, FDA approved Orencia as an injection or intravenous infusion to treat polyarticular JIA.

Providers don’t prescribe Orencia as often as other JIA drugs, such as methotrexate. But overall, Orencia has generated $2.71 billion in total sales for Bristol Myers Squibb.

Roche: Avastin, Herceptin, Rituxin

Roche’s Avastin is a cancer chemotherapy approved in 2018 to treat women with advanced stage 3 or stage 4 ovarian cancer following initial surgical resection.

Currently, Avastin is the ninth selling Medicare drug and has generated about $6.71 billion in total sales.

Additionally, Roche’s Herceptin was first FDA approved in 1998 to treat HER2+ metastatic breast cancer. In 2006, the agency approved Herceptin to treat HER2+ early breast cancer. And in 2010, FDA approved Herceptin to treat HER2+ metastatic stomach cancer.

Herceptin is currently the sixth top-selling drug in Medicare, generating total sales of $6.84 billion.

Finally, FDA first approved Roche’s Rituxin to treat non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1997. And in 2006, the agency approved the drug to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Since then, FDA approved Rituxin to treat Wegener’s granulomatosis, microscopic polyangiitis, and pemphigus vulgaris. Just behind Avastin, Rituxan is the 10th most prescribed Medicare drug, generating $6.62 billion in total sales as of 2020.

AbbVie: Humira, Imbruvica

Humira is AbbVie’s top-selling drug used to treat several autoimmune diseases, such as arthritis and Crohn’s disease.

Humira significantly increased AbbVie’s revenue from 2011 to 2018, generating 7.9 billion US dollars in 2011, a record high of 19.9 billion US dollars in 2018, and 19.8 billion US dollars in 2020.

And Imbruvica is AbbVie’s cancer drug. FDA first approved the drug in 2013 to treat lymphocytic leukemia, Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia, chronic graft versus host disease, and various types of lymphoma.

Imbruvia is one of the most commonly prescribed leukemia drugs, generating about $3.59 billion in total sales.

Merck: Keytruda, Januvia

Merck’s Keytruda is the company’s top product and one of the best-selling drugs worldwide. In 2017, FDA approved Keytruda to treat patients with recurrent locally advanced metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma whose tumors expressed PD-L1.

FDA also indicated the drug to treat patients with Hodgkin lymphoma and many different cancer types.

Keytruda is the fourth most commonly prescribed Medicare drug. Keytruda has generated $7.17 billion in total sales.

Januvia is Merck’s dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Januvia lands in the 12th spot of the top-selling drugs in Medicare, generating nearly $5.91 billion in total sales.

Johnson & Johnson: Xarelto, Remicade

Johnson & Johnson’s Xarelto is the first and only therapy to help reduce risks of major cardiovascular thrombotic vascular events in patients with coronary artery disease, including myocardial infarction, ischemic stroke, and major amputation of a vascular etiology in patients with peripheral artery disease.

Xarelto is the 11th most commonly prescribed Medicare drug, bringing in about $6.16 billion in total sales.

Additionally, in 2011, FDA approved Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade to treat moderate to severely active ulcerative colitis in pediatric patients with an inadequate response to conventional therapy.

Remicade trails Xarelto as the 15th most prescribed Medicare drug of all time and has brought in about $5.33 billion in total sales.

Amgen: Neulasta, Prolia

In 2002, FDA approved Amgen’s Neulasta to treat serious and frequent chemotherapy side effects. Today, Neulasta is the 19th commonly prescribed Medicare drug and has generated $4.48 billion in total sales.

Amgen’s Prolia is currently approved in the US to treat postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture.

Generally, providers will prescribe bisphosphonates to patients with osteoporosis, including Alendronate and Romosozumab. Although Prolia isn’t as highly utilized for osteoporosis treatment, the drug lands in the top 50 most-prescribed Medicare drugs and has generated $2.29 billion in total sales.

Regeneron: Eylea

In 2019, FDA approved Regeneron’s Eylea injection to treat all stages of diabetic retinopathy and reduce the risk of blindness.

Currently, Eylea is the seventh most-commonly prescribed drug in Medicare and has generated about $6.75 billion in total sales.

Sanofi: Lantus

FDA first approved Sanofi’s long-acting insulin, Lantus, in 2000 to treat adults with Type 2 diabetes and adult and pediatric patients with Type 1 diabetes.

Lantus was Sanofi’s second best-selling pharmaceutical product last year and has generated 4.21 in total sales worldwide.

Pfizer: Ibrance

In 2017, FDA approved Pfizer’s Ibrance to treat hormone receptor (HR) positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) negative advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Currently, Ibrance is a more commonly prescribed Medicare drug, bringing in about $4.12 billion in total sales.

Eli Lilly & Company: Trulicity

Eli Lilly & Company’s Trulicity was first FDA approved in September 2014 for Type 2 diabetes. By February 2020, the drug was approved to reduce cardiovascular events in adults with and without established cardiovascular disease.

Trulicity is the top 20 selling Medicare drugs of all time and has generated about $3.20 billion in total sales.

Gilead: Truvada

Gilead’s Truvada is the only product FDA approved for HIV-1 PrEP. The drug has generated about $3 billion in total sales and lands in top 30 most prescribed Medicare drugs overall.

Celgene: Revlimid

Finally, Celgene’s Revlimid lands at the bottom of the 50 most prescribed drugs in Medicare overall, generating a total of $2.04 in total sales.
FDA first approved the drug in 2005 to treat myelodysplastic syndrome, multiple myeloma, lymphoma, and follicular lymphoma.

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