Name two of the top five grossing prescription drugs from either lecture or the textbook:

• A. Nexium and Lipitor
• B. Lipitor and Humira
• C. Nexium and Plavix
• D. Humira and Plavix

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is recognizing which drugs have generated the most revenue over time, i.e., blockbuster drugs. Nexium and Lipitor have both been standout sellers for many years, across broad patient populations and long periods before generic competition reduced some of their sales. Nexium (for GERD) and Lipitor (a cholesterol-lowering statin) represent two different therapeutic areas, yet both reached top-five status in prescription drug revenue in the materials you’re studying. That’s why they’re the best pair to name.

Humira and Plavix are also major sellers, but the specific top-five list in the course materials doesn’t pair them together as the two top grossing drugs, likely due to shifts in sales over time such as patent expirations and generic entry.