The buzz about bigger-and-better cancer drug sales abounds at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting. But which oncology meds are actually tipped to make major gains between now and the end of the decade?
According to research from Bloomberg and FirstWord Pharma, several stars from the ASCO meeting will be among 2020's top-selling cancer treatments--including the Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) and AbbVie ($ABBV) blood cancer therapy Imbruvica, expected to capture second place in the disease with $8.2 billion in sales.
Other new therapies that are projected to crack the global top 10 include Bristol-Myers Squibb's ($BMY) Opdivo, already approved in melanoma and lung cancer, and under study for other cancer types. It's slated for $6.2 billion in 2020 sales. Pfizer's ($PFE) newly minted breast cancer treatment Ibrance takes 7th place with $4.8 billion in projected sales--and some new data showing that its survival benefit beat expectations can't hurt.
Roche's ($RHHBY) Perjeta and Herceptin--which posted some impressive new survival data in a combo study--occupy 8th and 9th place, at $4.7 and $4.6 billion in 2020 sales, respectively. And rounding out the top 10 is Merck's ($MRK) Keytruda, which has been no slouch at ASCO, either.
Of course, some old standbys will remain big earners through 2020, the projections show. Celgene's ($CELG) Revlimid, a cash cow for years already, is set to top the ranks, with a whopping $10.1 billion in 2020 sales. Roche's Avastin and Rituxan, long among the top-selling cancer meds--occupy 3rd and 6th place, with $6.7 billion and $5.4 billion in projected sales by then, despite coming biosimilar competition. And the Medivation ($MDVN) and Astellas prostate cancer pill Xtandi, a big contender against J&J's Zytiga, is expected to garner $5.7 billion in 2020, putting it in 5th place overall.
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