Report: Teva’s Copaxone 15th Biggest Selling Drug

Teva’s Copaxone was the 15th biggest selling drug in the world in 2014, the World Health Organization said in a study. The study, according to Wall St. 24/7, showed that $4.8 billion worth of the Israeli-invented drug was sold in 2014, an increase over the $4.7 billion the previous year.

It remains to be seen if those sales levels will hold when the 2015 numbers are tallied. In 2015, with Teva’s exclusive patent on the multiple sclerosis drug expired, the FDA approved the sale of generic versions of the drug by Momenta and Sandoz. Teva had tried to fight the removal of the patent, attempting to get it renewed, but lost after the Supreme Court ruled against its appeal.

According to the study, Humira, used for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, colitis and other conditions, was the biggest selling drug in the world in 2014, with sales of $11.8 billion. Altogether, the study showed, the top 15 drugs sold in 2014 had total sales of over $300 billion.