AbbVie, Inc is a publicly traded biopharmaceutical firm based in the United States and created in 2013 as a spin-off of Abbott Laboratories. Abbott Laboratories would focus on a wide range of products, including medical devices, diagnostic equipment, and nutrition supplements, while AbbVie would be a research-based pharmaceutical company.
AbbVie got listed on the New York Stock Exchange on January 2, 2013, after the separation became effective on January 1, 2013.
AbbVie has roughly 48,000 employees and operations in over 175 countries.
About AbbVie, Inc
AbbVie may have only been created in 2013, but they have strong origins. They broke away from Abbott in 2013, while they have a shared history and bright possibilities for the future.
Their name alludes to their links to the past and future. AbbVie created a new type of business when it became its own corporation: a biopharmaceutical company. They combine a pharmaceutical company’s stability, worldwide scale, resources, and commercial capabilities with a biotech’s focus and culture.
Today, AbbVie’s employees worldwide are focused on delivering game-changing medications and therapies that benefit patients.
Scientists, researchers, communicators, industrial specialists, and regulatory experts worldwide work for AbbVie. They devise novel techniques to deal with today’s health problems, ranging from life-threatening illnesses to chronic illnesses.
They focus on specific, difficult-to-cure diseases where their core R&D expertise can help progress science. They are continually working to develop solutions that positively influence patients’ lives, society, and science itself and cure the condition.
Competing With Biogen In Alzheimer’s Disease
AbbVie has announced that it will begin testing a next-generation version of the Alzheimer’s medicine Aduhelm sometime this year or next year. Aduhelm, a Biogen medication, was approved in June, causing researchers to redirect their attention to the beta-amyloid treatment theory.
Beta-amyloid is a sort of plaque that forms in Alzheimer’s patient’s brains. Biogen and other companies, such as AbbVie, believe that removing it will help patients’ cognition. However, the scientific community does not fully support the theory. AbbVie President Michael Severino noted on the company’s second-quarter results call that the business had been monitoring this area for some years.
FDA Approvals are Necessary
Skyrizi, AbbVie’s psoriasis drug, was released as a single-dose injection in early August. The medication was formerly given in two 75mg shots. Every 12 weeks, patients can now receive a single 150mg injection. However, the announcement did not affect ABBV’s stock.
The stock dropped after the FDA announced that it would postpone its consideration of Rinvoq in two types of arthritis while it investigates Pfizer’s (PFE) Xeljanz study. In research comparing Xeljanz to previous TNF medications, it was discovered that Xeljanz increased the risk of heart disease and cancer.
The FDA is also considering Rinvoq for use in eczema patients. In adults with eczema, Rinvoq outperformed Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ and Sanofi’s Dupixent last year. In the final phase of the research, more adults receiving Rinvoq had at least 75% eczema eradication at week 16.
The European Commission’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use proposed Rinvoq for eczema approval on June 25. The European Union is likely to make a decision later in the year. Rinvoq would receive its fourth European approval. The European Union approved the medicine in January for two forms of arthritis.
AbbVie is also working on completing the acquisition of privately-held aesthetics startup Cypris Medical. The company is now researching a gadget that could treat mid-face descent and neck lifts.
AbbVie is also testing coronavirus treatments. The medicine could lead to a treatment for Covid-19 or a new strategy to prevent the disease from spreading.
AbbVie in Oncology
AbbVie recently announced that if conditions are met, the CADTH pCODR Expert Review Committee (pERC) recommends that Venclexta (Venetoclax) in combination with azacitidine be reimbursed for the treatment of patients. This applies to newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) who are 75 years or older or have comorbidities that preclude the use of intensive induction chemotherapy.
AML is a blood malignancy that is aggressive and difficult to cure, with a low survival rate and is very common in adults. In Canada, the five-year net survival percentage for patients diagnosed with AML in the general population is around 21%.
According to doctors, this specific cancer progresses rapidly and, when compared to other cancers, has a very low survival rate.
The average age of AML patients is about 70, and most are not candidates for aggressive chemotherapy or stem cell transplantation. Treatments for those patients have not been very beneficial so far, but this new regimen has shown to be more effective.
In December 2020, Health Canada approved Venclexta in combination with azacitidine. Project Orbis, an FDA program that provides a framework for simultaneous submission and assessment of cancer drugs across international partners, received Health Canada’s clearance.
COVID-19 Research Development
AbbVie’s scientific expertise has proven invaluable in the fight against COVID-19. The company has been collaborating with biopharmaceutical enterprises to address the pandemic’s health implications.
- Antibody research: Harbour BioMed, Utrecht University, and Erasmus Medical Center are collaborating with AbbVie to explore innovative antibody therapies to prevent and cure COVID-19. The cooperation will develop the fully human, neutralizing antibody 47D11, which targets the conserved domain of SARS-spike CoV-2’s protein, which produces COVID-19.
- Ibrutinib research: Ibrutinib is being tested in a Phase 2 trial in individuals with COVID-19 infection by AbbVie. The trial’s purpose is to determine Ibrutinib can improve patient outcomes by reducing the cytokine storm, an immunological response that promotes morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 patients.
- ACTIV partnership: The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) and The National Institutes of Health are leading the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) initiative, which AbbVie is a part of. More than a dozen renowned biopharmaceutical companies have joined the partnership, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to devise a global strategy for coordinating research in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- COVID R&D Alliance: AbbVie is a member of the COVID R&D Alliance, collaborating with partners in the industry to battle COVID-19. They’re collaborating to find, research, and develop the most potential therapeutic drug candidates.
CEO Richard A. Gonzalez
The present Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chairman of the Board of AbbVie is Richard A. Gonzalez. He was a 30-year Abbott veteran before AbbVie’s departure from Abbott in January 2013. Before briefly retiring in 2007, Gonzalez was President and Chief Operating Officer of Abbott. He also held several high management positions in Abbott’s medical products division.
Education Controversy
Richard Gonzalez has faced controversy regarding his college education. Between 2002 and 2007, Abbott Laboratories misrepresented his educational credentials in at least nine regulatory submissions, according to Crain’s Chicago Healthcare
Gonzalez held a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Houston and a master’s degree in biochemistry from Miami, according to the company’s regulatory filings from 2002 to 2007.
Gonzalez’s educational credits in his profile on Abbott’s website have since been amended, stating that he worked at the University of Miami School of Medicine as a research biochemist and majored in biochemistry at the University of Houston.
Abbott’s spokesperson, Melissa Brotz, had the following to say about the situation:
“There’s no issue here with respect to his educational background and his ability to lead AbbVie. His ability to lead AbbVie is evidenced by his distinguished career over 30 years, culminating in his reaching the highest levels of the company.”
AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) Latest Stock and Dividend News
AbbVie’s (ABBV) stock is trading at $120.40 as of August 26, 2021. The company has been paying dividends for the last nine consecutive years, with the dividend yield currently being 4.41%.
The dividend growth rate over the past five years is 18.09%.
AbbVie Financial Results Second-Quarter 2021
AbbVie recently released its financial results for the second quarter of 2021. Here are some of the highlights:
- Delivers second-quarter net revenues of $13.959 billion, an increase of 33.9% on a reported basis
- Reports second-quarter diluted EPS of $0.42 on a GAAP Basis; Adjusted diluted EPS of $3.11
- The Immunology Portfolio’s second-quarter global net revenues were $6.120 billion, up 15.1% on a reported basis and 13.8% on an operational basis
- Global Neuroscience Portfolio Net Revenues Were $1.459 Billion in the Second Quarter; Global Botox Therapeutic Net Revenues Were $603 Million; Global Vraylar Net Revenues Were $432 Million
- Worldwide net revenues were $13.959 billion, an increase of 33.9% reported or 19.3% on a comparable operational basis
- Net interest expense was $606 million on a GAAP basis
- Diluted EPS in the second quarter was $0.42 on a GAAP basis. Adjusted diluted EPS, excluding specific items, was $3.11