Roughly two-thirds of the 150 top-selling prescription drugs sold in 2020 had low “added clinical benefit” compared to existing drugs.

Among the drugs with low added benefit: Gammagard Liquid, Yervoy, Ibrance, Odefsey, Entyvio, Genvoya, and Mavyret.

Among the drugs with high added benefit: Ocrevus, Opdivo, Keytruda, Neulasta, and Hemlibra.

Companies spent a bigger fraction of their 2020 ad dollars on direct-to-consumer ads for the drugs with low added benefit than for the drugs with high added benefit.

(Those added-benefit ratings come from France or Canada. The U.S. doesn’t rate drug benefits.)

What to do

Seen an impressive drug ad on TV? Don’t assume that it’s your best option.