AbbVie Results Boosted by Humira, Pipeline Growth
July 29 2016 - 10:40AM
Dow Jones News
Drugmaker AbbVie Inc. lifted its profit forecast for the year
Friday after second-quarter results easily topped expectations,
boosted by its growing pipeline and higher sales of its
anti-inflammatory drug Humira.
Shares of AbbVie, up 6% over the past year, rose 1.8% to $65.90
in morning trading in New York.
AbbVie continued to be led by Humira, sales of which rose 17% to
$4.15 billion in the second quarter. The company cited continued
momentum across the drug's three major market
categories—rheumatology, dermatology and gastroenterology.
Also likely helping Humira sales were higher drug prices. The
average U.S. net price for a Humira package, including all rebates
and discounts, rose 18% last year, The Wall Street Journal reported
earlier this month, citing data AbbVie submitted to Medicare.
The Illinois company, formed in 2013 when it spun off from
Abbott Laboratories, has been aggressively on the hunt for drugs
that will lessen its dependence on Humira, which faces potential
competition from copycat drugs in the years ahead.
In June, AbbVie acquired cancer-drug developer Stemcentrx Inc.
for $5.8 billion, a deal that followed last year's $21 billion
acquisition of Pharmacyclics Inc. through which AbbVie won partial
rights to the blood-cancer drug Imbruvica. It also has recently
received regulatory clearance in the U.S. for leukemia treatment
Venclexta and multiple sclerosis drug Zinbryta.
Total revenue rose 18% to $6.45 billion, above the estimate of
$6.20 billion by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
AbbVie posted a profit of $1.61 billion, or 98 cents a share, up
from $1.37 billion, or 83 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding
intangible asset amortization expenses, among other items,
per-share profit rose to $1.26 from $1.08.
Analysts expected $1.20 in adjusted earnings per share.
Following the better-than-expected second-quarter results and
considering newly-acquired drugs. AbbVie pushed up its per-share
earnings forecast for the year to $4.73 to $4.83 from $4.62 to
$4.82. Analysts have projected $4.75 a share.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 29, 2016 10:25 ET (14:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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