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Merck, BMS, AbbVie blockbusters will rule pharma sales in 2025: report

AbbVie’s enjoying industry-leading sales for Humira these days, but by 2025, the drug will fall down the rankings to the No. 6 spot in best-selling meds, according to a new forecast from GlobalData. Meanwhile, the analysts expect Merck’s Keytruda to continue making strides and reach $22.5 billion in 2025 sales, topping the industry. 

Of course, the Humira fall is not unexpected for AbbVie, which recently inked a massive buyout of Allergan in order to prepare itself for Humira’s U.S. patent cliff, coming in 2023. But even after numerous biosimilars enter the market, GlobalData analysts believe Humira can retain $10.3 billion in 2025 sales. What’s more, 2023 is the year the analysts expect Keytruda to take pharma’s sales crown.

Behind Keytruda in GlobalData’s 2025 sales forecast are Bristol-Myers Squibb and Pfizer’s Eliquis at $18.7 billion, Celgene’s Revlimid at $12.4 billion, Bristol’s Opdivo at $12 billion and AbbVie and Johnson & Johnson’s Imbruvica at $11.9 billion. 

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BMS is in the process of buying out Celgene, so that buyout will give the drugmaker three of the top four drugs by estimated 2025 sales, totaling more than $43 billion. Of note, the company splits Eliquis revenues with Pfizer.  

Behind Humira, Gilead’s new HIV med Biktarvy captures the No. 7 ranking with $10 billion in 2025 sales. Pfizer’s Ibrance, J&J’s Stelara and Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Trulicity round out the top 10 with sales of $9 billion, $7.5 billion and $7.2 billion, respectively. 

GlobalData’s forecast comes after an EvaluatePharma analysis in June predicted many of the same drugs would top pharma’s sales in 2024. Evalaute’s analysis had the order different, though, as the firm predicted Humira would hold on to the No. 2 spot in that year. 

Behind Keytruda and Humira, Evalaute predicted Eliquis, Opdivo and Imbruvica would make up the industry’s top five drugs in 2024. Ibrance, Revlimid, Stelara, Bayer and Regeneron’s Eylea and Biktarvy rounded out the top 10 in that forecast.