Semaglutide Sales Surpass $9 Billion in H1 2023 as Novo Nordisk’s Weight-Loss Drug Breaks New Ground

　　【Pharmaceutical Network Product Information】Recently, the 2024 half-year reports of multinational pharmaceutical companies have all been disclosed, revealing which drugs have performed well in sales. According to industry analysis, in the same period last year (2023H1), a total of eight drugs achieved sales exceeding 5 billion US dollars, including Merck's Pembrolizumab, Novo Nordisk's weight-loss drug Semaglutide, and AbbVie's Adalimumab.
 

Among them, Merck's Keytruda (Pembrolizumab, commonly known as: K drug) stood out among numerous drugs with $12 billion in sales revenue in H1 2023. It is reported that the drug currently has over 40 approved indications, covering 18 types of cancers including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, lymphoma, and liver cancer; among which, more than 10 indications have been approved in China, such as squamous cell carcinoma, metastatic esophageal cancer, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, metastatic colorectal cancer, and stage IV melanoma, with 15 indications currently in Phase III clinical trials.
 

Next is BMS/Pfizer's Eliquis (Apixaban), which is used for adult patients undergoing elective hip or knee replacement surgery to prevent venous thromboembolic events. Since breaking through the 10 billion dollar mark in 2019, the drug has maintained steady growth, with H1 2023 sales reaching 10.263 billion dollars. It is worth mentioning that the competition in this drug category is becoming increasingly crowded. Data shows that currently in China, 41 companies have obtained production approval for Apixaban tablets, and 44 companies have submitted new classification-based applications for market entry, of which 40 have been approved for marketing, considered as passing the evaluation.
 

Novo Nordisk's semaglutide, which was launched in 2017, has also performed remarkably well, with sales exceeding $9 billion in the first half of 2023. Currently, there are three approved products of semaglutide on the market: Ozempic (injectable antidiabetic), Rybelsus (oral antidiabetic), and Wegovy (injectable weight-loss medication). Thanks to the rapid growth in Wegovy's sales, which saw a year-on-year increase of 363% in the first half of 2023, semaglutide's sales in the first half of the year surpassed $9 billion for the first time.
 

After being impacted by biosimilars, AbbVie's Humira (adalimumab) generated only approximately $7.5 billion in sales in the first half of 2023. Currently, seven adalimumab biosimilars have been approved for marketing in China. In the first half of 2023, across China’s three major terminals and six key markets, sales of adalimumab injection exceeded 2.2 billion yuan, with Hangzhou Bozirui Bio, a Chinese manufacturer, surpassing the original developer AbbVie in market competitiveness.
 

In addition to the aforementioned drugs, Gilead's Biktarvy, Sanofi/Regeneron's Dupixent, Johnson & Johnson/Tanabe Mitsubishi's Stelara, and Boehringer Ingelheim/Lilly's Jardiance also achieved sales exceeding 5 billion U.S. dollars. Among them, Gilead’s HIV drug "leader" Biktarvy generated sales of 5.656 billion U.S. dollars. This drug was first approved for marketing in February 2018, and in 2023, Biktarvy increased by 33% year-on-year. In China, in 2019, Biktarvy was included in the priority review channel and approved for marketing in China due to its "prevention and treatment of AIDS with obvious clinical advantages"; and in December 2021, it was included in the new edition of the National Medical Insurance Drug Catalog.
 

In addition, the sales of empagliflozin, which exceeded 5 billion US dollars, was jointly developed by Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly. It was approved for marketing in the United States in August 2014, with indications for use in conjunction with diet control and exercise to improve blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes. In December 2016, empagliflozin was approved in the United States for a new indication to reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with type 2 diabetes. In 2017, the drug was approved for entry into China under the trade name Jardiance, as monotherapy or in combination with metformin to improve blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes. However, the drug faces competition from numerous pharmaceutical companies in China. To date, empagliflozin tablets from Qilu Pharmaceutical, Sichuan Kelun Pharmaceutical, Zhengda Tianqing Pharmaceutical, Tiandi Hengyi Pharmaceutical, Lepu Pharmaceutical, Zhejiang Huayi Pharmaceutical, Jiangsu Wanbang Biochemical Pharmaceutical, Jiangsu Deyuan Pharmaceutical, Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical, Tonghua Dongbao Pharmaceutical, Jiangsu Aosaikang Pharmaceutical, and Jiangsu Hai'an Pharmaceutical have been successively approved for marketing.
 

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