Healthcare

Ranked: America’s Most Popular Drugs by Dollars Spent

Published

4 weeks ago

November 4, 2024

Pallavi Rao

Graphics/Design:

Sam Parker

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Ranked: America’s Most Popular Drugs by Dollars Spent

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Tired of hearing about yet another celebrity’s Ozempic-inspired weight loss journey? Well, all those testimonials are adding up: driving expenditure towards one particular category of medication in America, and helping the revenues of several major pharmaceutical companies.

This graphic lists America’s top drugs by money spent on them at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies in 2023. Data is sourced from the AARP.

Ranked: America’s Top-Selling Drugs in 2023

Americans are spending big on drugs to manage type 2 diabetes and their weight.

Right at the top, semaglutide, (available as Ozempic, Rybelsus, and Wegovy) attracted nearly $40 billion in consumer spending in 2023.

Rank	Name	Brand Names	Consumer Spending 2023	Prescribed for
1	💉 Semaglutide	Ozempic, WeGovy	$38.6B	Diabetes, Weight loss
2	💉 Adalimumab	Humira	$35.3B	Arthritis, Crohn's disease
3	💊 Apixaban	Eliquis	$22.1B	Prevent blood clots
4	💉 Dulaglutide	Trulicity	$16.3B	Diabetes
5	💊 Empagliflozin	Jardiance	$15.9B	Diabetes
6	💉 Ustekinumab	Stelara	$15.9B	Arthritis, Crohn's disease
7	💉 Pembrolizumab	Keytruda	$15.4B	Cancer treatment
8	💉 Tirzepatide	Mounjaro, Zepbound	$13.2B	Diabetes, Weight loss
9	💊 Bictegravir	Biktarvy	$13.2B	HIV infection
10	💉 Dupilumab	Dupixent	$11.5B	Eczema, Asthma

Initially developed to treat type 2 diabetes, semaglutide is now the key active ingredient in weight loss drugs for those who can afford it. It’s estimated that the medication can cost upwards of $1,000 a month without insurance.

Meanwhile, three other medications on this list (dulaglutide, empagliflozin, and tirzepatide) are also prescribed for type 2 diabetes. The last one, tirzepatide, (Mounjaro, Zepbound) is also known for weight loss benefits.

Other drugs that attract significant dollars include adalimumab and ustekinumab (found in Humira and Stelara), are used to treat arthritis and Crohn’s disease.

Altogether, Americans spent nearly $200 billion on the top 10 most popular drugs, which is about 29% of the $722 billion spent in total on medicines in 2023.

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Ozempic’s popularity has made manufacturer, Norvo Nordisk, Denmark’s largest company. Check out the Most Valuable Companies in the EU for a full regional breakdown.