London, UK - Two statins topped the world's drug sales last year, with atorvastatin (Lipitor^®, Pfizer) and simvastatin (Zocor^®, Merck & Co) together bringing in a cool $16.4 billion for their manufacturers.

Atorvastatin was once again the best-selling drug in 2003, taking in $10.3 billion, an increase of 14% over 2002 figures. Simvastatin made $6.1 billion, a decline of 4% from 2002, probably due to the fact that the drug is off patent now in many European markets.

Other cardiology drugs also featured in the top 10, including the calcium blocker amlodipine (Norvasc^®, Pfizer), at number four. Sanofi-Synthelabo's platelet antiaggregant clopidogrel (Plavix^®) was a new entry at number eight, with an impressive 40% growth over 2002 sales.

The new figures come from the International Medical Statistics (IMS) World Review, which tracks actual sales of approximately 90% of all prescription drugs, totaling over one million brands in more than 80 countries.1

For the first time in 14 years, cholesterol and triglyceride reducers moved ahead of antiulcerants as the leading therapeutic class worldwide, raking in $26.1 billion in sales, constituting 6% of global sales and an increase of 14% over 2002. Calcium antagonists ranked sixth in the top-10 therapy classes, bringing in a total of $10.8 billion, and oral antidiabetics squeezed in at number 9, with $9 billion in sales.

North America was once again the top region for pharmaceutical sales, taking $229.5 billion, constituting 49% of the global market and an 11% growth over 2002. The EU was second, with $115.4 billion in sales, 25% of the market, and 8% growth.

Finally, there are now more than 64 "blockbuster" products in the world, the report notes. A blockbuster is a product with sales over $1 billion. There were 23 products with sales over $2 billion.