Skyrizi set to surpass Humira as AbbVie's top seller

AbbVie experienced a varied second quarter, with newer immunology medications playing a crucial role in the company's performance as it dealt with the decline of its long-standing bestseller, Humira, which now faces competition from cheaper biosimilars. Despite this, AbbVie posted results that exceeded expectations for the three-month period, primarily due to the strong performance of Skyrizi and Rinvoq.

The total revenue for the second quarter reached $14.46 billion, marking a 4.3% increase year-over-year and surpassing analysts' expectations of $14.02 billion. However, net earnings fell to $1.4 billion, down from $2 billion in the same period the previous year. Skyrizi and Rinvoq were the standout performers of the quarter; Skyrizi almost doubled its sales, reaching $2.7 billion, and Rinvoq surged by nearly 56%, with sales hitting $1.4 billion. Combined, their sales totaled $4.2 billion, exceeding Wall Street estimates by about $200 million.

Humira, despite facing biosimilar competition, remains AbbVie's top-selling drug, although Skyrizi is quickly catching up. Humira's sales dropped nearly 30% to $2.8 billion in the second quarter but still managed to surpass analyst projections. Sandoz's Hyrimoz biosimilar has seen increased uptake, posing a challenge to Humira's market share.

Newly appointed CEO Robert Michael, who took over from Richard Gonzalez on July 1, emphasized the robust growth of AbbVie's portfolio excluding Humira, which accounts for over 80% of the company's total sales. Michael stated that this segment is expected to outperform the initial full-year sales guidance by more than $1 billion. He highlighted Skyrizi's momentum in treating psoriasis and Crohn's disease, noting substantial potential for market share gains. Additionally, a recent US approval for Skyrizi in ulcerative colitis is expected to contribute to long-term growth. Michael also mentioned that Rinvoq is making significant progress in late-stage development for five additional indications, anticipated to launch in the latter half of this decade.

AbbVie's aesthetics portfolio, which includes Botox, showed some signs of weakness. Cosmetic Botox sales grew by 6.4% to $729 million, slightly missing the $735.4 million forecast. Neuroscience also underperformed slightly, generating $2.16 billion against projections of $2.18 billion. However, the portfolio saw a nearly 15% increase in sales compared to the previous year, driven by therapeutic Botox (+8.7%, $810 million), Vraylar (+17.6%, $774 million), Ubrelvy (+17.5%, $231 million), and Qulipta (+56.3%, $150 million).

The oncology segment saw revenues rise by 10.5% to $1.6 billion, boosted by new drugs Elahere ($128 million) and Epkinly ($36 million). However, sales of the top-selling cancer drug Imbruvica declined by 8.2% to $833 million.

AbbVie also announced it would discontinue the development of ABBV-916 as a standalone treatment for Alzheimer's disease. Chief Scientific Officer Roopal Thakkar explained that a Phase II interim analysis revealed that the emerging efficacy and safety profile of the anti-AβpE3 monoclonal antibody were similar to approved agents. However, the company does not believe ABBV-916 will be sufficiently differentiated as a monotherapy in the evolving landscape of Alzheimer's treatments.

AbbVie is also focused on completing the $8.7-billion acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics, which will add the potential schizophrenia treatment emraclidine to its neuroscience pipeline. Thakkar noted that AbbVie has complied with the US Federal Trade Commission's requirements and expects the transaction to close soon. Pivotal studies of emraclidine are expected to yield results by the end of this year, along with data from two additional Phase III studies for davapidon in Parkinson's disease.

AbbVie has revised its full-year 2024 earnings guidance, now expecting adjusted earnings between $10.71 and $10.91 per share, which includes a 60-cent impact related to tax charges.