Product sales in 2010: hits and misses, assessed by EvaluatePharma

In contrast to huge volatility in 2009 when the swine flu pandemic caused global stockpiling of potential treatments and vaccines, 2010 saw more subtle but still significant swings in product performance, according to EvaluatePharma’s EP Vantage annual review of hits and misses among product sales in 2010.

Star performer was Novo’s Victoza

The star performer last year was Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s (NVO: N) anti-diabetic agent Victoza (liraglutide), with sales of $400 million being four times higher than was expected at the start of the year, boosted by a somewhat surprising Food and Drug Administration approval and rapid uptake.

Other notable winners were Sanofi’s (Euronext: SAN) Ambien CR (zolpidem), ViroPharma’s (Nasdaq: VPHM) Vancocin (vancomycin HCl) and Pfizer’s (NYSE: PFE) Protonix (pantoprazole), which all benefited from a failure of expected generic competition to materialize. As for the misses, the list is dominated by newly launched products which have struggled to get off their blocks, including Savient’s (Nasdaq: SVNT) Krystexxa (pegloticase), Cumberland Pharmaceuticals’ (Nasdaq: CPIX) Caldolor (ibuprofen) and NeurogesX’ (Nasdaq: NGSX) Qutenza (capsaicin).