Discover the top 10 best-selling drugs globally in 2024, including Keytruda, Ozempic, and Biktarvy. Learn about their sales, market trends, and upcoming challenges in this detailed breakdown of the pharmaceutical industry's biggest earners.GuideView3 MIN READMarch 21, 2025
Top 10 Best-Selling Drugs Globally in 2024
1st. Pembrolizumab (Keytruda)
Drug Name: Keytruda
Company Name: Merck
2024 Sales: $29.48 billion
Year-on-Year Change: +18%
Merck’s blockbuster PD-1 inhibitor, Keytruda, has maintained its position as the best-selling pharmaceutical product for the second consecutive year. In 2024, Keytruda’s sales grew by 18%, reaching $29.48 billion.
Given that Keytruda has become a treatment for over 40 cancer indications, including various forms of lung and gynecological cancers, this revenue figure is not surprising. In September 2024, the FDA approved Keytruda for first-line treatment of pleural mesothelioma. According to an August 2024 IMARC report, this market could exceed $12 billion by 2034.
However, Keytruda’s key patents are set to expire in 2028, exposing it to competition from biosimilars, which could erode its sales.
Regulatory concerns over the widespread use of Keytruda and other PD-1 inhibitors appear to be increasing. In September 2024, an FDA advisory panel overwhelmingly voted to narrow the labeling of Keytruda, as well as Bristol-Myers Squibb’s Opdivo and Yervoy, for gastric and esophageal cancers, restricting their use in patients with low PD-1 expression levels. However, the FDA has not yet issued a formal directive.
Merck is doing everything it can to maintain Keytruda’s market dominance. The company is developing a subcutaneous formulation of Keytruda. In November 2024, Merck announced positive topline results from the pivotal Phase 3 MK-3475A-D77 trial for the subcutaneous version of the PD-1 antibody. If successfully developed, the launch of this product could extend the product’s lifecycle.
2nd. Semaglutide (Ozempic)
Drug Name: Ozempic
Company Name: Novo Nordisk
2024 Sales: $16.9 billion
Year-on-Year Change: +26%
The widely popular type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic was one of the best-performing medications in 2024. Novo Nordisk revealed in its annual business report that revenue from GLP-1 therapies exceeded 120 billion Danish kroner, approximately $16.9 billion last year.
Compared to 2023, Ozempic's sales grew by 26%, with expectations of even greater upward trends in the coming years. Initially approved in 2017 for blood sugar control, Ozempic received additional approvals in 2020 for reducing cardiovascular risk and in January 2025 for a new indication to lower the risk of chronic kidney disease.
However, Ozempic’s growth faces challenges due to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Earlier this year, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) selected GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Rybelsus (oral semaglutide) for the second round of drug price negotiations. Over the past year, Novo Nordisk has received multiple requests to lower Ozempic’s list price.
Facing the potential price cap on Ozempic, Novo Nordisk has petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit to expedite its ongoing lawsuit against the IRA, arguing that price negotiations violate its constitutional rights. However, this argument has so far failed to convince the judges.
3rd. Bictegravir (Biktarvy)
Drug Name: Biktarvy
Company Name: Gilead
2024 Sales: $13.42 billion
Year-on-Year Change: +13%
Gilead's antiretroviral drug Biktarvy has expanded the HIV market, achieving 13% growth in 2024 with sales reaching $13.42 billion. The pharmaceutical company attributes this growth to increased demand for the drug.
Biktarvy is currently the cornerstone of Gilead's HIV business, holding over 50% of the U.S. HIV market. Unlike Keytruda and Ozempic, Biktarvy faces no significant obstacles in the near future. Its key patent protections remain intact for the coming years, preventing generic competitors from entering the market until 2033. Additionally, Biktarvy is not included in the second round of drug price negotiations by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
4th. Apixaban (Eliquis）
Drug Name: Eliquis
Company Name: BMS, Pfizer
2024 Sales: $13.3 billion
Year-on-Year Change: +9%
The blood thinner Eliquis, through the close collaboration between Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) and Pfizer, generated $13.3 billion in revenue in 2024, marking a 9% year-over-year increase.
For a long time, this drug has been a valuable asset for both companies, but that may soon change. Eliquis is set to lose market exclusivity in 2026, and several generic versions are already waiting in line to enter the U.S. market, aiming to erode its revenue. Among these generics are products from Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Micro Labs Limited, which were approved by the FDA in early December 2019.
Eliquis was also one of the first drugs selected for CMS price negotiations last year, with a negotiated price of $231 set to take effect in 2026, which is 56% lower than its original list price.
To mitigate the potential revenue loss, BMS has launched a multi-billion-dollar cost-cutting initiative, aiming to reduce expenses by $1.5 billion by the end of 2025, with an additional $2 billion in cuts by 2027. Pfizer is taking a similar approach, setting a $3.5 billion cost-saving target for 2024, with plans to achieve another $1.5 billion in savings by the end of 2027.
5th. Dupilumab (Dupixent)
Drug Name: Dupixent
Company Name: Sanofi, Regeneron
2024 Sales: $13.07 billion
Year-on-Year Change: +23%
Sanofi and Regeneron are jointly commercializing the immunology powerhouse Dupixent. The drug generated $13.072 billion in revenue last year, marking a 23% year-over-year increase.
Like Biktarvy, Dupixent does not appear to face issues related to patents or the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The drug will maintain market exclusivity until 2031. In September 2024, the FDA approved Dupixent for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), with its launch expected this year. Previously, Dupixent had already been approved for atopic dermatitis and asthma. As a result, the product has a promising outlook.
6th. Risankizumab (Skyrizi)
Drug Name: Skyrizi
Company Name: AbbVie
2024 Sales: $11.72 billion
Year-on-Year Change: +50.9%
AbbVie's IL-23 inhibitor therapy, Skyrizi, is the fastest-growing asset on this list. Skyrizi's sales increased by 50.9% year-over-year, generating $11.718 billion in revenue for the company in 2024.
For many years, Humira was the world's best-selling drug. In Q3 2024, despite the continued decline in Humira's sales, revenue from Skyrizi and the JAK inhibitor Rinvoq helped AbbVie slightly surpass analysts' expectations. This trend continued into the fourth quarter.
In a February report analyzing the company's full-year business performance, analysts stated that Skyrizi and Rinvoq would usher in a "new era of growth" for AbbVie, as the company has finally broken free from its dependence on Humira.
Skyrizi's market exclusivity will last until 2031.
Johnson & Johnson had two of the best-selling drugs in 2024: Darzalex (Daratumumab) and Stelara (Ustekinumab).
Stelara, an anti-IL-12 and IL-23 antibody used for various inflammatory diseases, lost its key patent protection in September 2023. Since then, biosimilars have entered the U.S. market, gradually eroding its market share, though they have not yet fully replaced Stelara. In 2023, the biologic generated $10.86 billion in revenue. Last year, its sales declined by 4.6% to $10.34 billion.
To compensate for this revenue loss, Johnson & Johnson is relying on its cancer drug Darzalex, a CD38-targeting cytolytic antibody approved for multiple myeloma. In 2024, Darzalex generated $11.67 billion in revenue, reflecting a nearly 20% year-over-year increase. According to reports, Darzalex is expected to drive Johnson & Johnson’s oncology portfolio—which includes its CAR-T therapy Carvykti and bispecific antibodies Tecvayli and Talvey—to a compound annual growth rate of 15.3%, with projected sales reaching $27.1 billion by 2029.
Johnson & Johnson is actively working to expand Darzalex’s label. In September 2024, the company submitted an application to the FDA for the use of Darzalex in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients who are ineligible for stem cell transplantation. Additionally, in November 2024, it filed an application for high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma. Darzalex’s key patents are expected to remain protected until 2029.
9th. Adalimumab (Humira)
Drug Name: Humira
Company Name: AbbVie
2024 Sales: $8.99 billion
Year-on-Year Change: -37.6%
Humira's sales dropped by 37.6% year-over-year, making it clear that the drug has passed its peak. In 2024, this once-dominant anti-inflammatory therapy generated $8.993 billion in revenue for AbbVie.
The primary reason for Humira’s decline is the increasingly fierce competition from biosimilars. Since the drug lost its key patent protection in 2023, several generic versions have entered the market, including Amgen’s Amjevita, Celltrion’s Yuflyma, Cordavis and Sandoz’s Hyrimoz, and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Cyltezo.
Another major factor driving Humira’s market erosion is CVS Caremark (the largest U.S. pharmaceutical retailer) removing the brand-name drug from its primary national formulary in April 2024. Instead, it opted to support biosimilars, including its own Cordavis adalimumab brand, Hyrimoz. Cordavis, a subsidiary of CVS Caremark, was established in August 2023.
Nevertheless, in the Q1 2025 edition of the Samsung BioEPIS Biosimilar Market Dynamics Report, Humira remained the largest adalimumab brand, controlling 72% of the market. In the Q3 2024 edition of the same report, Humira held an 82% market share.
10th. Gardasil
Drug Name: Gardasil
Company Name: Merck
2024 Sales: $8.58 billion
Year-on-Year Change: -3%
The only vaccine on this list—Merck's human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Gardasil—saw a 3% decline in sales in 2024, generating a total revenue of $8.58 billion.
Gardasil's key patent protection is set to expire in 2028. Although there are no biosimilar competitors, the vaccine’s future does not appear entirely optimistic. With well-known vaccine critic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. serving as the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Merck and Gardasil face increasing uncertainty regarding how U.S. health authorities will handle vaccine policies.
Additionally, Gardasil was recently approved for use in males in China.
