2017 sales review: big names soldier on as Harvoni sinks

The numbers are in from 2017 and it looks like the major sellers in pharma are holding fast for now (see table below). With the exception, that is, of Gilead Sciences' (Nasdaq: GILD) blockbuster Harvoni (ledipasvir/sofosbuvir). The antiviral medication, the second-highest seller of 2016, falls out of the top five completely this year as its revenues collapsed by more than half.

The decline of Harvoni is a continuation of a downward trend for what was once Gilead's most valuable asset. Introduced in 2014, the drug debuted in the final quarter yet made $2.1 billion by the end of the year. That figure would then skyrocket to $13.86 billion in 2015, but the growth did not last long. Sales fell to $9.08 billion the following year, before crashing 51.9% to $4.37 billion in 2017.

Harvoni is still popular, bringing in more revenue on its own than most businesses across the world. But this comes at a difficult time for Gilead, with all of its established medications raising less revenue in 2017 than they had the year before. Only Odefsey (emtricitabine) and new product Vosevi (sofosbuvir) have managed to raise additional funds. Between them, they made approximately $1.3 billion.