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Humira reliance a neg for AbbVie
Posted 31 July 2017
AbbVie's over-reliance on rheumatoid arthritis biological blockbuster Humira (adalimumab) has caused concern as its Q2 results show the drug still accounts for 60 per cent of the company's sales.
Sales of the world's best-selling drug grew 14 per cent year-on-year last quarter to reach USD4.7 billion with AbbVie confirming biosimilar competition is expected to erode the drug's revenue by next year.
"Humira continues to drive outstanding performance with nearly 15 per cent operational growth in the quarter despite the introduction of new mechanisms of action and competition from indirect biosimilars," AbbVie's CEO and chairman Richard Gonzalez said.
Overall, AbbVie's global revenue was up 7.6 per cent year-on-year to USD6.944 billion for Q2 2017 and earnings up 19 per cent to USD1.9 billion.
Analysts were scrutinising the remainder of the company's portfolio for hope in the looming post-Humira era with cancer drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib) showing the most promise. Its revenue was up nearly 43 per cent to USD626 million.
Gonzalez said AbbVie was anticipating a sixth approved indication for Imbruvica globally while its stablemate, leukaemia drug Venclexta (venetoclax), was also "tracking against our objective to achieve full-year sales guidance of $125 million". Venclexta was approved in Australia in January.
Other key products, including hepatitis C quad pill Viekira Pak (dasabuvir/ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir), underperformed expectations with revenue down 46 per cent to USD225 million. However, AbbVie's next-gen pan-genotypic HCV combination Maviret (gelcaprevir/pibrentasvir) has just been approved in Europe and Gonzalez says US approval is expected this quarter. The combo is also expected to receive TGA approval soon, having gone before the PBAC this month.
Potential Humira replacements in the AbbVie pipeline include IL-23 inhibitor risankizumab, which AbbVie is developing with Boehringer Ingelheim, and JAK1 inhibitor upadacitinib.
AbbVie released positive phase III trial results for upadacitinib in RA in Q2 as well as good phase II trial results for risankizumab in Crohn's disease.
Megan Brodie
megan.brodie@lushmedia.com.au
Posted 31 July 2017
AbbVie's over-reliance on rheumatoid arthritis biological blockbuster Humira (adalimumab) has caused concern as its Q2 results show the drug still accounts for 60 per cent of the company's sales.
Sales of the world's best-selling drug grew 14 per cent year-on-year last quarter to reach USD4.7 billion with AbbVie confirming biosimilar competition is expected to erode the drug's revenue by next year.
"Humira continues to drive outstanding performance with nearly 15 per cent operational growth in the quarter despite the introduction of new mechanisms of action and competition from indirect biosimilars," AbbVie's CEO and chairman Richard Gonzalez said.
Overall, AbbVie's global revenue was up 7.6 per cent year-on-year to USD6.944 billion for Q2 2017 and earnings up 19 per cent to USD1.9 billion.
Analysts were scrutinising the remainder of the company's portfolio for hope in the looming post-Humira era with cancer drug Imbruvica (ibrutinib) showing the most promise. Its revenue was up nearly 43 per cent to USD626 million.
Gonzalez said AbbVie was anticipating a sixth approved indication for Imbruvica globally while its stablemate, leukaemia drug Venclexta (venetoclax), was also "tracking against our objective to achieve full-year sales guidance of $125 million". Venclexta was approved in Australia in January.
Other key products, including hepatitis C quad pill Viekira Pak (dasabuvir/ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir), underperformed expectations with revenue down 46 per cent to USD225 million. However, AbbVie's next-gen pan-genotypic HCV combination Maviret (gelcaprevir/pibrentasvir) has just been approved in Europe and Gonzalez says US approval is expected this quarter. The combo is also expected to receive TGA approval soon, having gone before the PBAC this month.
Potential Humira replacements in the AbbVie pipeline include IL-23 inhibitor risankizumab, which AbbVie is developing with Boehringer Ingelheim, and JAK1 inhibitor upadacitinib.
AbbVie released positive phase III trial results for upadacitinib in RA in Q2 as well as good phase II trial results for risankizumab in Crohn's disease.
Megan Brodie
megan.brodie@lushmedia.com.au
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