Beyond Humira: How AbbVie Plans To Hold Its Immunology Leadership Reign

Wall Street attention to AbbVie Inc. often is driven by three near-term topics – its struggle for supremacy in the hepatitis C space against Gilead Sciences Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc., its oncology strategy and the looming 2019 patent expiry of autoimmune colossus Humira (adalimumab). During a June 3 R&D day presentation, management played to all three concerns, highlighting its oncology portfolio and a pair of Phase III immunology candidates that could make the post-Humira horizon a bit sunnier.

CEO Rick Gonzalez pointed to a set of eight recent launches or late-stage candidates – including Phase III immunology trialists risankizumab, an anti-IL-23 drug, and ABT494, a selective Janus kinase 1 inhibitor – that AbbVie believes together will deliver peak sales of $25bn-$30bn in the window immediately following Humira’s patent