Biotech Values

[biomaven0]

Adverse effect reports - top culprits:

Table 1. Most frequently reported drugs in 2009 Q3 from all sources
Drug Name* Brand Name Cases Rank
ROSIGLITAZONE AVANDIA 1218 1
QUETIAPINE SEROQUEL 977 2
BACLOFEN LIORESAL 796 3
FENTANYL 688 4
ETANERCEPT ENBREL 495 5
INFLIXIMAB REMICAIDE 395 6
ADALIMUMAB HUMIRA 353 7
DEFERASIROX EXJADE 294 8
ZOLEDRONIC ACID 287 9
TERIPARATIDE FORTEO 278 10
ACETAMINOPHEN 276 11
DULOXETINE CYMBALTA 266 12
IBANDRONATE BONIVA 249 13
LEVOFLOXACIN 242 14
IMATINIB GLEEVEC 239 15
*Generic drugs shown in bold face
Direct Reports

Full report at:

http://www.ismp.org/quarterwatch/2009Q3.pdf

Be interesting to normalize this based on number of scripts - certainly Baclofen must be up there as I don't think it is all that widely used.

Also notable are the three RA biologics, and the three osteoporosis drugs, although I guess they are more widely used (but maybe not Forteo). Gleevec is surprising too, given it isn't that widely used. Exjade is a known problematic drug, and it's not surprising to see Levaquin here as it's still widely used and has known issues. Cymbalta is surprising to me - wonder what the issue is.

Hard to know if Avandia is on top because of all the publicity or because it belongs there. Seroquel is widely used and has lots of side effects - in a large 10-year observational study it showed the highest mortality of any of the second-generation antipsychotic drugs. (Anyone want to guess which drug showed the lowest mortality?)