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The next two to four years are an important time frame for many pharmaceutical companies. This is when many of the top selling drugs go off patent. Here is a list of the large pharmas with some of their top selling drugs that are set to 'expire.'

  • AstraZeneca plc (AZN) has the cholesterol drug Crestor, which is set to go off patent in the year 2012. This was recently ranked the 42nd best selling drug. It also has the asthma drug, Symbicort, which expires the same year. Seroquel, an antipsychotic used to treat schizophrenia and the 16th best selling drug, expires 2011. The stock has a P/E of 11, a PEG of 2.77, and pays a yield of 4.6%.

  • Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) has the eighth best selling drug, Zyprexa, which is used to treat schizophrenia, and has a patent expiration of 2011. It also has Actos for Type 2 diabetes which goes off patent the same year. Lilly has a P/E of 19, a PEG of 1.81, and a yield of 3.6%.

  • Forest Laboratories Inc. (FRX) has the drug Lexapro, also known as Cipralex which expires in 2012. The drug is an antidepressant used to treat depression and anxiety disorders. The stock has a PE of 23, and a PEG of 1.1.

  • Glaxosmithkline plc (GSK) has the asthma drug Advair, also known as Seretide which expires in 2010, and the diabetes drug Avandia expiring 2012. The stock has a PE of 12, a PEG of 4.21, and a yield of 5.6%.

  • Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ) antibiotic drug, Levaquin, goes off patent in 2010. The stock has a PE of 18, a PEG of 1.99, and a yield of 2.5%.

  • Merck & Co. Inc. (MRK) has the asthma drug Singulair which expires in 2012, and Cozaar for hypertension which expires in 2010. The stock has a P/E of 27, a PEG of 1.21, and a yield of 4%.

  • Novartis AG (NVS) has the Zometa cancer drug and the Diovan hypertension drug, both expiring 2012. The stock has a P/E of 10, a PEG of 1.22, and a yield of 2.9%.

  • Pfizer Inc. (PFE) has Lipitor for cholesterol, estimated to expire 2010, Aricept for Alzheimer’s, expiring 2010, and Xalatan for glaucoma, which goes off patent in 2011. The stock has a P/E of 18, a PEG of 2.03, and has a 6% yield.

  • Both Sanofi-Aventis (SNY) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) have Aprovel for high blood pressure expiring 2011, and the anticoagulant Plavix, expiring the same year.

  • Disclosure: The author owns PFE.

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    This article has 3 comments:

    •  
      This is all fairly well known information. Is there any point to your post? Do you have an investment recommendation? Buy/Sell? Help me here.
      2008 Apr 07 08:43 AM | Link | Reply
    •  
      your post would be more useful if you highlighted the fraction of cash flow that the expirations will have on an individual company basis. Just giving us drug names is nice, but practically useless.

      2008 Apr 08 11:29 AM | Link | Reply
    •  
      Basically knowlage. Kindly post interesting things.Current top sell or more unique name.
      Sep 05 07:13 AM | Link | Reply