The 200 Top-Selling Drugs in 2024
Small-Molecule Drugs Continue to be Highly Relevant
We explore the top 200 drugs by 2024 retail sales, share key statistics, and highlight the top 10 with structures in the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD).
Inspired by the Njarðarson group’s annual posters on best-selling drugs, (see also J. Chem. Educ. 2010, 87, 12, 1348–1349) we created a version of the 2024 poster highlighting drugs with structures in the Cambridge Structural Database (green), the PDB (grey), and small molecules that have not yet been deposited in the CSD (white).
50% are small-molecule drugs (green and white); 50% are biological-molecule drugs.
A high-resolution pdf version of the poster below is available to download.
Small-Molecule Drugs
Of these 200 drugs, 50% are small-molecule drugs and 50% biological molecule drugs.
The top 10 ranking drugs contain three that have crystal structures deposited in the CSD. Here we take a deeper dive into each:
Ranking Position #2 – Eliquis
Eliquis (component drug apixaban) had $20.699 billion in retail sales in 2024.
Eliquis contains apixaban, an anticoagulant used to prevent and treat blood clots and reduce stroke risk in atrial fibrillation patients.
Developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer, its crystal structure (CSD Entry: NUPQEW) has been known since 2015, when it was studied for its binding to human serum albumin.
See the European Medicines Agency (EMA) entry on Eliquis.
Ranking Position #5 – Biktarvy
Biktarvy (component drugs bictegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir alafenamide) had $13.423 billion in retail sales in 2024.
Biktarvy treats HIV-1, the virus responsible for AIDS. Of its three components, emtricitabine (CSD Entry: HAKJIM) and tenofovir alafenamide (CSD: BUKQOQ) have structures in the CSD.
Emtricitabine’s structure dates to 1994, while tenofovir alafenamide has been more recently studied for its solid-state forms, including co-crystals, salts, and polymorphs.
See the European Medicines Agency (EMA) entry on Biktarvy.
Ranking Position #6 – Jardiance
Jardiance (component drug empagliflozin) had $12.798 billion in retail sales in 2024.
Jardiance treats type 2 diabetes, chronic heart failure, and kidney disease.
Its crystal structure (CSD: NIQBIB) was first deposited in 2018 and later refined in 2023 (CSD: NIQBIB01), confirming its absolute configuration.
See the European Medicines Agency (EMA) entry on Jardiance.
Next Steps
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