Even as AbbVie has demonstrated that Rinvoq and Skyrizi sales can more than make up for Humira's tumble over the patent cliff, analysts appear anxious to know what the Chicago drugmaker might bring to the table next.
During a third-quarter earnings call Friday, executives at the pharma were peppered with queries about the company’s plans outside immunology.
One Morgan Stanley analyst inquired after AbbVie’s appetite for deals following its recent $10.9 billion Apogee acquisition and asked if the drugmaker needed a GLP-1 to be able to compete at scale in the market.
AbbVie’s CEO Rob Michael said that deal focus remains on differentiated assets in the company’s core areas of immunology, neuroscience and oncology, but he added that the company is “looking to expand in obesity as well.” Across the portfolio, AbbVie is open to early-stage, late-stage, or even on-market deals, the CEO said.
The Apogee buy reinforced AbbVie's immunology leadership, gaining the company access to Apogee's late phase long-acting eczema treatment zumilokibart. While there have been no head-to-head trials, efficacy data on Apogee's treatment appears to be as strong as market leaders like Eli Lilly’s Ebglyss and Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent, albeit with the potential added benefit of fewer injections.
Meanwhile, Michael was adamant that the company’s existing portfolio and pipeline are enough for “long, durable growth” well into the 2030s. “We have ample financial capacity to pursue the deals we’re interested in,” he added.
According to Citi analysts, that balance of business development and internal pipeline execution will “remain necessary to strengthen [AbbVie’s] 2030+ growth profile.”
Other analysts on Friday's call asked after Epkinly’s competitive edge amid building competition in the front-line diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) landscape, where the drug is vying for an approval. AbbVie CMO Roopal Thakkar pointed to the Epkinly regimen’s simplicity—one product plus standard-of-care R-CHOP—which he said resonated with clinicians.
In Q3, AbbVie reported $108 million in sales for Epkinly, a 58% jump from the same time last year. After a phase 3 first-line win this month, AbbVie said it was working with regulators on next steps. Incyte is after the same first-line approval with its tafasitamab and lenalidomide combination plus R-CHOP after a phase 3 win this summer.
While there were questions this week about the company's longer-term prospects, AbbVie’s present performance was decidedly strong in the third quarter.
Skyrizi and Rinvoq hit $5.8 billion and $2.7 billion in sales, respectively, driving 16% reported year-over-year growth for AbbVie’s immunology portfolio in spite of a 31% decline from the biosimilar-assailed Humira.
On the psoriasis front specifically, AbbVie's CEO also sought to quell concerns about J&J’s newly launched oral IL-23 Icotyde.
“Recent oral competition is not having a substantive impact on our in-play patient share, with Skyrizi continuing to capture one out of every two new or switching psoriasis patients,” Michael said.
The company’s neuroscience portfolio is also gaining visibility, according to Citi, and produced the pharma’s strongest beats of the quarter. The franchise was up 19% year over year to $3.3 billion, led by Vraylar and Botox Therapeutics, which both brought home just over $1 billion for the quarter.
The pharma now expects annual adjusted profits of $13.95 to $13.99 per share, up from $13.76 to $13.96. It also raised its sales guidance for 2026 by $200 million to $67.8 billion.
Meanwhile, a key readout for AbbVie’s phase 3 trial testing Rinvoq in hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) remains on track for the end of the year.