ClinCalc has released the latest edition of the DrugStats database, featuring prescription drug utilization data through 2024. DrugStats provides complimentary access to estimated prescription drug utilization data in the United States, including the Top 200 and Top 300 drugs, as well as drug trends, drug class comparisons, and prescription cost data.
Where does the DrugStats data come from?
All medication utilization data comes from the annual Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), a survey conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). This data is publicly available on the MEPS website. To implement MEPS into the ClinCalc DrugStats database, basic data sanitization and standardization are applied to maintain an accurate and reliable data set. Read more about the methodology on the DrugStats About page.
Headline Trends in DrugStats 2024
Statins Remain King
- Atorvastatin (Lipitor®) remains the most commonly prescribed medication in the US, maintaining this title since 2018
- Rosuvastatin (Crestor®) has continued a steady rise in popularity, rising from #28 in 2018 up to #9 in 2024
- Atorvastatin and rosuvastatin currently command about 82% of the statin market share in 2024. This is due both to increased prescribing of these two statins and a steady decline in other statins (including simvastatin, pravastatin, and lovastatin) over the same period.
Statin Drug Class Prescriptions (2014-2024)
GLP-1 and GIP/GLP-1 Agents Continue Their Surge
The biggest story in 2024 may be tirzepatide (Mounjaro®, Zepbound®). Tirzepatide climbed 78 positions from #110 in 2023 to #32 in 2024. Prior to 2023, tirzepatide was not even ranked in the DrugStats database. The average total cost of each fill was $1363, although the average patient out-of-pocket cost was only $62.
Similarly, semaglutide (Ozempic®, Wegovy®) also continued its climb from #19 in 2023 to #14 in 2024, with an estimated 40.9 million prescriptions for 8.3 million patients.
The monumental increase in GLP-1 and GLP-1/GIP agonists clearly took a large leap starting in 2022 and is very likely to continue for many more years:
GLP-1 and GLP-1/GIP Drug Class Prescriptions (2014-2024)
Tadalafil is the New PDE5 Inhibitor King
Among PDE-5 inhibitors for indications like erectile dysfunction, tadalafil (Cialis®) has now surpassed sildenafil (Viagra®) as the most commonly prescribed in this drug class.
Estimated tadalafil prescriptions more than doubled, from 2.4 million in 2023 to 5.5 million in 2024. This increase in prescriptions also increased its market share of the PDE5 inhibitor drug class from 39% to 61%.
Tadalafil has been available as a generic medication since 2018 and out-of-pocket cost has been less than $30 per fill since 2020. It has several pharmacologic advantages over sildenafil, including a longer duration of action, FDA approval for benign prostatic hyperplasia, and a once-daily dosing option.
PDE-5 Inhibitor Drug Class Prescriptions (2014-2024)
Diabetes Prescribing Continues to Shift Towards Newer Agents
In addition to the increase in GLP-1 or GLP-1/GIP agonists, SGLT2 inhibitors have also seen a steady increase in prescriptions with a concurrent decline in sulfonylureas.
Empagliflozin (Jardiance®) and dapagliflozin (Farxiga®) essentially make up nearly the entire SGLT2 inhibitor market, although empagliflozin leads the way with rank #28 (climbing 6 positions) with over 20 million prescriptions in 2024.
Sulfonylureas have seen a 60% decline in prescriptions from 2014 to 2024. Since 2023, glipizide fell from #42 to #54 and glimepiride from #80 to #128. Given that these therapies have not been shown to reduce cardiovascular and renal complications of diabetes and cause hypoglycemia and weight gain, it’s no surprise that their use has declined over time.
SGLT2 Inhibitor Drug Class Prescriptions (2014-2024)
Sulfonylurea Drug Class Prescriptions (2014-2024)
More to Explore
DrugStats includes about 2.5 billion prescriptions across about 400 unique compounds with multiple years of US prescribing patterns. Explore the full database for free, including data regarding drug class and drug cost trends, on the ClinCalc DrugStats site.
DrugSpell Dictionary Updates
In coordination with the 2024 DrugStats update, the ClinCalc DrugSpell dictionary is also updated. This dictionary file adds thousands of proprietary brand names, generic medication names, and established pharmacologic classes (EPC) words so that word processing applications can provide an accurate and reliable spell check. This dictionary file is completely free and simple to install. For more information, see the ClinCalc DrugSpell Dictionary File.
