Due to more robust demand for newer treatments and a less-than-expected decline in sales of its popular arthritis medication Humira, AbbVie (ABBV.N) increased its annual profit prediction on Friday after exceeding quarterly profit forecasts.
Premarket trading saw a 2% increase in AbbVie’s shares due to the forecast and results. Due to the introduction of more than six biosimilars this year, including ones from Sandoz (SDZ.S.), Amgen (AMGN.O.), and German pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim, investors have been closely monitoring the decline in Humira’s sales.
Humira has remained well-positioned on insurer prescription coverage lists despite those biosimilars. In July, AbbVie reduced its forecast for Humira sales erosion in 2023 from 37% to 35%.
Biologic medicines, like Humira, are made from live cells that can not be exactly copied. This differs from chemical medication, which can be copied and sold as generics at huge discounts when patents run out. Biosimilars are their nearest substitutes.
LSEG data shows that although Humira’s global sales in the third quarter dropped 36.2% to $3.55 billion, they were still higher than Wall Street’s projection of $3.48 billion.
With the hope of offsetting the anticipated decline in sales of Humira, AbbVie has been working to increase the usage of more recent immunology medications, such as Skyrizi and Rinvoq. Above analyst estimates of $2.10 billion and $1.02 billion, respectively, Skyrizi and Rinvoq produced global revenues of $2.13 billion and $1.11 billion.
Imbruvica, a cancer medication, sold for $908 million, above $863 million in projections. AbbVie exceeded analysts’ forecasts of $13.71 billion by reporting $13.93 billion in sales for the quarter.
Against projections of $2.86 per share, it recorded an adjusted profit of $2.95 per share.
The company’s revised estimate for 2023 adjusted profit per share is between $11.19 and $11.23, up from its prior expectation of between $10.86 and $11.06 this month.
Additionally, AbbVie increased its projected adjusted profits per share for 2024 from at least $10.70 to at least $11.
