A Fading Vertex Drug Was Also Fastest To Become A Blockbuster

How is this for irony? The same week that Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) cuts 15 percent of its workforce due to plunging sales of its Incivek treatment for hepatitis C, the drug has been identified as having achieved blockbuster status faster than any other medicine. Incivek was launched in 2011, by the way, and surpassed Celebrex, which is sold by Pfizer (PFE) but was launched in 1999 by Pharmacia. The analysis was conducted by EvaluatePharma which reviewed quarterly US products sales and aggregated the first four full quarters after each drug launch in the region. Only five drugs have ever achieved blockbuster status in their first year on the market – the Vioxx painkiller that was sold and later withdrawn by Merck (MRK); the Victoza diabetes drug sold by Novo Nordisk and Pfizer’s Lipitor cholesterol pill. Each nearly achieved or exceeded $1 billion in sales during that first year. If you are wondering which other drugs were also found to be among the fastest launches, these included Neulasta, an Amgen (AMGN) treatment for white blood cell deficiency; Eyelea, which Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) sells for macular disorders; the Viagra impotence pill sold by Pfizer; the Lucentis treatment for macular disorders sold by Roche, and the Atripla HIV antiviral sold by Gilead Sciences (GILD). “With an astonishing $420 million in sales booked in its first full quarter on the market, (Incivek) holds another record, and this one at least looks hard to beat,” EvaluatePharma w...
Source: Pharmalot - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs