Of the new medications set to be released in 2015, three cardiovascular drugs could achieve “blockbuster” sales of over $1 billion by 2019, according to a report from Thomson Reuters.
Of the “Drugs to Watch in 2015,” those for the cardiovascular system are projected to reach nearly $10 billion by 2019.
Two PCSK9 inhibitors, alirocumab and evolocumab, are expected to gain Food and Drug Administration approval as early as this summer and become the next cholesterol-lowering blockbusters. Each has shown unprecedented LDL cholesterol lowering as well as reductions in adverse cardiovascular events, and the report projects sales of $4.4 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively. This $2.5-billion disparity between evolocumab and alirocumab (trade name Praluent) may be explained by alirocumab’s expected arrival on the market a month sooner.
The novel heart failure drug LCZ-696 (sacubitril and valsartan) has projected sales of $3.7 billion through 2019, Thomson Reuters said. The angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor reduced cardiovascular death and heart failure hospitalization by 20%, compared with enalapril, in heart failure patients in the large PARADIGM-HF trial.
Overall, 11 drugs are expected to reach $1 billion in sales by 2019, many more than the three blockbusters predicted from the 2014 stock of drugs. With projected sales of nearly $5.7 billion for 2019, the melanoma drug Opdivo (nivolumab) is at the head of a large 2015 blockbuster class. However, the two highest-selling new drugs from 2014, Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) and Harvoni (sofosbuvir plus ledipasvir) – both HCV drugs – are each predicted to reach sales of over $10 billion by 2017, far exceeding anything from 2015, the report said.
With estimated sales of $2.8 billion, the breast cancer drug Ibrance (palbociclib) is the second oncologic drug making the blockbuster list, with the first noncancer or non-CV drug – lumacaftor plus ivacaftor for cystic fibrosis – rounding out the top five with projected sales of $2.7 billion by 2019.
The Thomson Reuters Market Insight Report used data collected from 2013 through early February 2015.