Prescription Drug Sales Soaring

Prescription drug sales have hit an all-time high. Last year sales jumped over 5 percent to reach more than $300 billion in the U.S. Even though the economy has been in the doldrums for more than year, people continue to take their prescription medicines. Expensive bio-tech drugs were especially successful as were anti-cancer drugs like Herceptin and Avastin. Generic drug sales skyrocketed and now make up 75 percent of the prescription drug market. That is up from just over half five years ago. Pharmaceuticals have been considered somewhat recession proof and last year’s sales figures support that reputation.