Last year 10 of the most popular medicines were generic – grim news for pharmaceutical companies that are always looking out for a blockbuster drug through patented brands that aren’t eligible yet for generic compositions. The top 10 include Vicodin, Zocor, Lisinopril, Synthroid, Norvasc, Prilosec, Zithromax, Glucophage, and hydrochlorothiazide, a high blood pressure medicine.
According to Forbes, there are only three branded medicines left on the top 25 list of best-sellers – Lipitor, Plavix, and Singulair. Even worse news for the drug companies was that overall volume of prescriptions sold last year increased at barely more than 1 percent. With so many drugs going off-patent, the new focus is on cancer drugs, which seem to get more expensive every time a new one is approved, Forbes said.