Top 10 drugs

These tables show the top 10 subsidised drugs in 2009-10.

Table 1
*Top 10 drugs supplied by DDD/1000 pop/day^†**

Constituent drug		PBS/RPBS^‡

1.	atorvastatin	80.83
2.	irbesartan	33.85
3.	perindopril	28.60
4.	ramipril	27.35
5.	simvastatin	25.55
6.	rosuvastatin	25.51
7.	paracetamol	24.01
8.	candesartan	22.16
9.	esomeprazole	21.49
10.	aspirin	17.67

DDDs in this table include use in combination products

Table 2
Top 10 drugs by prescription counts^†

Drug		PBS/RPBS^‡

1.	atorvastatin	11 017 309
2.	esomeprazole	6 256 960
3.	simvastatin	4 720 865
4.	rosuvastatin	4 688 857
5.	paracetamol	4 290 327
6.	perindopril	3 999 467
7.	pantoprazole	3 815 186
8.	metformin hydrochloride	3 390 708
9.	atenolol	3 140 001
10.	irbesartan	3 118 022

Table 3
Top 10 drugs by cost to government^†

Drug		Cost to government	DDD/1000 pop/day^*	Prescriptions
		($A)	PBS/RPBS^‡	PBS/RPBS^‡

1.	atorvastatin	633 711 616	68.94	11 017 309
2.	rosuvastatin	291 559 863	25.51	4 688 857
3.	ranibizumab	237 199 442	- ¶	113 126
4.	clopidogrel	209 904 583	10.39	2 993 979
5.	esomeprazole	203 325 839	21.49	6 256 960
6.	salmeterol and fluticasone	167 529 715	- §	2 948 869
7.	olanzapine	159 202 466	3.00	935 179
8.	simvastatin	154 029 119	20.95	4 720 865
9.	adalimumab	152 526 189	0.29	85 616
10.	rituximab	119 344 969	- ¶	65 225

*	The defined daily dose (DDD)/thousand population/day is a more useful measure of drug utilisation than prescription counts. It shows how many people, in every thousand Australians, are taking the standard dose of a drug every day.
†	Based on date of supply. Does not include private prescriptions or prescriptions under PBS co-payment.
‡	PBS Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, RPBS Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
¶	World Health Organization has not allocated a DDD for this drug
§	Combination drugs do not have a DDD allocated

Source: Drug Utilisation Sub-Committee (DUSC) Drug Utilisation Database, as at September 2010. © Commonwealth of Australia.

Date published: 01 December 2010