These 10 drugs each rang up more than $4 billion in U.S. sales last year
A whopping $450 billion was spent in the United States on prescription drugs last year. Topping the list, perhaps unsurprisingly, are medications whose patents were still in force or had recently expired. When a patent expires, generic versions — or biosimilar versions of biologic drugs — can become available, driving down costs that in turn make them accessible to more patients.

These 10 drugs each rang up more than $4 billion in U.S. sales last year

A whopping $450 billion was spent in the United States on prescription drugs last year.

Topping the list, perhaps unsurprisingly, are medications whose patents were still in force or had recently expired. When a patent expires, generic versions — or biosimilar versions of biologic drugs — can become available, driving down costs that in turn make them accessible to more patients.

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That’s one reason why none of the drugs that brought in the most money in sales also showed up on our list of most-prescribed drugs.