Top Selling Drugs
The GLP-1 franchises of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk reshaped the leaderboard in 2025 while long-standing giants braced for looming patent cliffs.
Merck & Co.’s checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda remains the best-selling drug worldwide. The top 10 products generated nearly $47bn in third-quarter revenues for big pharma, boosted by swelling sales of obesity drugs.
Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro overtook rival GLP-1 agonist Ozempic from Novo Nordisk to become the second-highest selling drug globally in the second quarter of 2025, while overall GLP-1 drug sales continued to swell.
Lilly’s Mounjaro for diabetes rose from sixth to third position among the top-selling drugs in the first quarter of 2025, Rival Ozempic retained second position and Merck & Co’s immuno-oncology blockbuster Keytruda stayed far ahead.
Merck’s immuno-oncology blockbuster was the world’s best-selling drugs by revenues for the second year in a row, with an almost $12bn lead over its closest rival, Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drug Ozempic.
Keytruda, Ozempic and Dupixent were the three best-selling drugs by global revenues in the third quarter. AbbVie’s long-time cash cow Humira finally exited the top 10, slipping to 16th place.
Keytruda and Ozempic held their positions as the number one and two best-selling drugs in the world in the second quarter, while Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro shot to sixth place.
Keytruda enjoyed its fifth consecutive quarter as the world’s top-selling drug in the first three months of 2024. As Comirnaty and Spikevax fell out of the list, Vertex’s cystic fibrosis pill Trikafta/Kaftrio became one of the top 10 best-selling drugs for the first time.
As Merck & Co’s checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda further cemented its position at the top of the best-selling drugs list, biosimilar-challenged Humira sales fell once again. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk’s diabetes injection Ozempic continued its ascent.
The Merck & Co vaccine for human papillomavirus Gardasil, along with Johnson & Johnson’s Darzalex for multiple myeloma, entered the ranks of the top 10 best-selling drugs globally in the second quarter. There was no product for COVID-19 in the line-up for the first time since 2020.
The Merck & Co vaccine for human papillomavirus Gardasil, along with Johnson & Johnson’s Darzalex for multiple myeloma, entered the ranks of the top 10 best-selling drugs globally in the second quarter. There was no product for COVID-19 in the line-up for the first time since 2020.