Top Pharma Trends of 2023
Our hand-picked collection of the top pharma trends of 2023. The topics in this report on today’s emerging pharma trends are selected for their high growth across sites including Google, TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and Amazon. Read more about how we track global trends.
Mounjaro
Mounjaro is an injectable drug for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. With the generic name tirzepatid, Mounjaro works by decreasing food intake, delaying gastric emptying, increasing insulin activity, reducing glucagon levels, and enhances insulin secretion. … Read more
Cibinqo
Cibinqo is a prescription medicine for the treatment of moderate-to-severe eczema or atopic dermatitis in adults and adolescents who didn't respond to previous treatment. Cibinqo is a JAK inhibitor, and it blocks JAK1 activity which is one of the processes that leads to inflammation. … Read more
Ozempic
Ozempic is a once-weekly injection for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The medication is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, which helps the body to produce more insulin and lowers blood sugar levels. … Read more
Rybelsus
Rybelsus is a prescription medication for type 2 diabetes and may also cause weight loss. The medication's active ingredient is semaglutide which lowers blood sugar by increasing the body's release of insulin in the pancreas. … Read more
Rinvoq
Rinvoq is a prescription drug for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), ulcerative colitis (UC), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). The drug works by blocking certain signals inside the body's cells that are thought to cause inflammation. … Read more
Saxenda
Saxenda is a prescription weight loss medication that is used to help people lose weight. The medication is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, which means it helps to reduce hunger and cravings. … Read more
Acriptega
Acriptega is a drug for HIV treatment that contains three antiretroviral drugs as active ingredients: Dolutegravir, Lamivudine, and Tenofovir. … Read more
Skyrizi
Skyrizi is a drug that is used to treat psoriasis. It is a biologic medication that is administered through an injection. It is a new drug that was approved by the FDA in 2019. … Read more
Non Stimulant ADHD
Non stimulant ADHD treatments are treatments for ADHD that do not contain stimulants. These treatments can include behavioral therapy, medications, and dietary changes. Non stimulant ADHD medications include Strattera, Kapvay, and Intuniv. … Read more
Prolonged Release Tablet
A prolonged release tablet is a tablet that is designed to release the medication slowly over an extended period of time. This type of tablet is often used to treat chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, where a steady dose of medication is needed. … Read more
Cyclopam
Cyclopam is a medication that is used to treat pain and inflammation. The medication comes in the form of a tablet and is said to be effective in treating a variety of conditions, such as cramps, spasmodic pains, and abdominal pains. … Read more
Anafortan
Anafortan is a drug that is used for the treatment of abdominal pains and cramps associated with dysmenorrhoea. The drug is a combination of Paracetamol and Camylofin. … Read more
Lipikind
Lipikind is a medication for the treatment of high cholesterol and prevention of heart attack. Its active ingredient is Atorvastatin which works by inhibiting the enzymes responsible for the formation of cholesterol in the body. … Read more
Trulicity
Trulicity is a medication that is used to treat type 2 diabetes. The medication is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, which means that it helps the body to produce more insulin. Trulicity is taken as a once-weekly injection and is meant to help control blood sugar levels. … Read more
Meftal Spas
Meftal Spas is a type of medication that is used to treat abdominal pain and spasmodic dysmenorrhea. The medication comes in the form of a tablet that is taken orally. … Read more
Jardiance
Jardiance is a prescription medication for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The medication works by blocking the activity of SGLT2, a protein that removes sugar from the blood. … Read more
Drotin
Drotin is an anti-spasmodic medication that is used to treat abdominal pain, cramps, and menstrual pain. It works by blocking the action of certain enzymes, and aids in the relaxation of smooth muscle and dilation of blood vessels. … Read more
Methycobal Tablet
Methycobal Tablet is a medicine that is used to treat nerve damage. It is a form of vitamin B12 that is used to improve nerve function and protect the nerves from damage. … Read more
Kesimpta
Kesimpta is a prescription medication for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis. The drug comes in the form of an injectable. … Read more
Farxiga
Farxiga is a drug that is used to treat type 2 diabetes. The drug belongs to a class of medications called SGLT2 inhibitors, which work by preventing the body from reabsorbing glucose. This lowers blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. … Read more
Zeposia
Zeposia is a medicine used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and bowel diseases like ulcerative colitis. Its active ingredient is Ozanimod which works by blocking the action of certain receptors on lymphocytes and stops them from attacking or going towards the brain, spinal cord, or intestine. … Read more
Capsule Pharmacy
Capsule pharmacy is a New York-based digital pharmacy startup that offers same-day free delivery of prescription drugs. The company also handles and keeps track of refills on its platform, so that the next refills are delivered wherever and whenever the patients need it. … Read more
Liver Injection
A liver injection is made from liver extract or other combination medicine. The injection may be used to treat a variety of conditions, including cancer, hepatitis, and cirrhosis. … Read more
NIPT
NIPT is a non-invasive prenatal test that screens for chromosomal abnormalities and other genetic conditions in the fetus. The test is performed by taking a blood sample from the mother and analyzing the DNA of the fetus. … Read more
Dupixent
Dupixent is a prescription medication or biologic that is used to treat moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, a type of eczema. It is a monoclonal antibody that is designed to inhibit the activity of interleukin-4 and interleukin-13, which are proteins that are involved in the inflammation process. … Read more
Softgel Capsule
A softgel capsule is a gelatin capsule that is designed to be soft and easily swallowed. The capsules are often used to encapsulate liquids or powders and can be found in both prescription and over-the-counter medications. … Read more
Cartigen
Cartigen is a medicine for the treatment of osteoarthritis and joint pains. Its active ingredients are glucosamine and chondroitin which help reduce inflammation, relieve pain, and improve joint function. … Read more
Natera
Natera is a company that specializes in genetic testing. The company offers a variety of tests, including tests for prenatal genetic disorders, cancer, and ancestry. Natera is one of the leading providers of genetic testing in the world. … Read more
Dolocartigen
Dolocartigen is a medication that is used to treat pain and inflammation. The medication is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and is available in both tablet and injectable form. … Read more
Tagrisso
Tagrisso is a drug that is used to treat non-small cell lung cancer. It is a pill that is taken once a day and works by blocking the activity of a protein that helps the cancer cells grow. … Read more
Remote Patient Monitoring
Remote patient monitoring is the process of remotely tracking a patient's health status and symptoms. This can be done through various methods such as phone apps, wearable sensors, or home health monitors. … Read more
Medable
Medable is a healthcare technology company that is focused on developing innovative solutions for clinical trials. The company’s flagship product is a decentralized trial platform that allows for the tracking and management of clinical trials. … Read more
Trend Highlight – GoodRx
Consumers are often more comfortable paying inconsistent rates when a good or service is one-off – like surgery – and less comfortable paying inconsistent rates when a good is undifferentiated – like prescription drugs, where a price increase doesn't necessarily suggest better product quality.
In spite of this, prescription drugs can have wildly different prices even among stores that are only miles apart. By searching for a specific drug, GoodRx shows users a map of nearby pharmacies with overlaid drug prices.
One of the strongest drivers of growth for GoodRx is doctor recommendations. In fact, GoodRx says that around 1/3 of U.S. doctors provide information about the company to their patients. With access to lower prices, patients can more often afford the medication and are more likely to stick to the treatment course. This means superior results, leading to happier patients and better business for doctors.
Today, more than 10 million Americans use GoodRx every month to lower their healthcare costs.
Trend Highlight – How Bluechew Is Disrupting The Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Market
Bluechew - a chewable tablet for erectile dysfunction - is different from competitor products marketed by Hims and Roman in one big way: The official site only processes ~¼ of the orders; the rest are processed on a series of affiliate sites that are all tied back to a single move the brand made that seems to have defined the company's high growth trajectory: posting their site on CrakRevenue.com, a marketplace for affiliate programs
Lookalikes of the official site (bluechew.com) can be found at bluechews.com, chew.blue (25M visits in March 2020), and more. The affiliate sites' footers all include links back to CrakRevenue, where the approach has been so successful that CrakRevenue did a case study on BlueChew in which they called it their most profitable program over the past 5 years. In fact, they listed the payout per sale at $50.
Because CrakRevenue has every incentive to help their affiliates perform, the company posts guidelines and provides prebuilt marketing funnel templates. One of the biggest guideline sets is around the framing of the product. For years, Cialis and Viagra were clearly labeled as drugs to solve issues had by "older men". CrakRevenue argues that this caps the market and holds it back from ever becoming a trend among younger men.
BlueChew claims the chewable factor -decreases the time it takes for the drug to start working. And though the difference in speed between chewable forms of the drug and capsule forms is debated in papers, the company has brought this feature to the front and center of its marketing.
Trend Highlight – Restaurant-Menu Medicine
Searches for Adderall have a unique seasonality in Google Trends whose pattern mimics that of education software and reflects one driver of changes in Adderall demand: school exams. Demand for Adderall and similar drugs has been rising for decades, with much of the rise coming from higher rates of diagnosis. In the last two decades, the number of children with ADHD diagnoses doubled.
Done ADHD ties in to both higher demand and higher awareness by giving people a way to get an ADHD diagnosis online, and then get a prescription.
The model of using a test to sell a product extends well beyond ADHD medication: it’s used in everything from online hearing tests and sleep studies to online internet speed tests and GPU stress tests for selling computer components.
More broadly, the entire approach to getting medical treatment is inverting. The pre-Internet approach was that a person went to a doctor, who would recommend a specialist, who would write a prescription. Today, it's easier to do research independently, online, especially on problems where the symptoms are self-reported. So an increasingly common cycle is to go online, find a specialist and get a prescription. It’s “restaurant-menu medicine”, where consumers choose exactly what they know they want. Instead of being the main player in the treatment process, doctors are relegated to being gatekeepers who double-check a self-diagnosis and provide a prescription.
Trend Highlight – The Changing Dynamics of Clinical Studies
Today, Craigslist is still cited by many universities as the best place to recruit participants for clinal trials.
It’s all part of the great lengths pharma companies go to in order to get their new drugs approved. The total bill for developing a new drug averages around $2.6 billion and part of this is clinical trials. Beyond their direct cost, there’s a huge time cost too. Most clinical trials get dragged out which can cost pharma companies even more in lost revenue.
Even still, clinical trials are very inefficient: 70% of clinical trial participants live more than 2 hours from trial sites.
As telemedicine startups push medicine and testing kits into consumers' homes for treatment, pharma companies are increasingly doing the same for drug research.
By helping to coordinate decentralized trials, Medable is able to reduce clinical trial times by 50%, equating to enormous savings.
Some companies find strategic ways to bypass regulations altogether: Plenity is one of the fastest-growing weight loss aids and even though it looks like a pill, the company behind it was able to get it classified as a medical device rather than a drug.
The FDA approval process for medical devices allows approval in cases where a device shows equivalent functionality to an existing treatment, which is a much cheaper and faster approach than the oftentimes billion-dollar investment of a full clinical trial.
Trend Highlight – Why MDCalc Is So Popular
MDCalc, an online toolbox for medical professionals with hundreds of diagnostic calculators, has grown entirely organically.
Of the site's unique 1.5M+ visits last month, 80% came from search engines. Looking deeper at the content behind that SEO position, it's so varied that "Heart Score," which is the calculation for predicting patients' near term risk for major cardiac events, accounts for less than 2% of inbound search traffic to the site, despite being one of the top few driving keywords. This highlights the very distributed nature of their inbound search traffic, a sign of well-executed SEO. This is in contrast to most sites that attract large search traffic which have a distribution of keywords that much more closely resembles a strong power curve — one or two keywords pulling in the majority of the traffic.
MDCalc's tools relieve medical professionals of the burden of memorizing acronyms and equations to calculate drug doses, recovery times, and more. They also speed up the routine without the stress of a numerical slip up. Plus, because it's easier now to have a more sophisticated online calculator, accuracy doesn't need to be sacrificed in the name of simplicity, as was done in the past.
In the U.S. MDCalc's tools are used weekly by 65% of attending physicians and almost 80% of medical residents, likely making it the most widely used medical reference. The company was bootstrapped by two physicians who still own and run it today.
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