AbbVie (ABBV) Has Plenty More Tricks Up Its Sleeve - Barron's
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AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) shres are flat in early trading Friday amid positive commentary in Barron's late Thursday.
Two key items going against AbbVie were patent expirations potentially erasing about $1 billion in cholesterol drug revs in 2014 and expiration of a patent for its Humira arthritis drug, which has sales of $9 billion annually.
But, those issues haven't stemmed investor loyalty. Shares are up over 33 percent since the start of 2013, outpacing peers and event the company it spun-off from, Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT).
Analysts largely see AbbVie garnering another $1.5 billion in sales from Humira and its indication is expanded. AbbVie wants to also increase demand outside of the U.S. for Hunira, where sales were just $4.9 billion last year. The company also has a pipeline of drugs which could generate sales of $6.6 billion by 2020, Barron's noted.
Expected to be approved this year is Duopa, which is a treatment or Parkinson's disease. One analyst from Jefferies noted that a three-drug "cocktail" to combat hep C is the next closest to approval, but probably not until 2015.
AbbVie sees Humira sales hitting $13.9 billion in 2017. Though generics will be able to enter the market then, manufacture is challenging; Humira is derived from living cells rather than chemical combinations, meaning the FDA will probably go through applications with a finer-toothed comb than usual.
Other challenges AbbViw faces include rival hep C drugs in development from names like Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). Failure in clinical trials could also cost AbbVie some market cap.
With hep C being a $20 billion market opportunity, a robust pipeline, and Humira continuing to prevail, AbbVie might just be the right prescription for an ailing portfolio.
Two key items going against AbbVie were patent expirations potentially erasing about $1 billion in cholesterol drug revs in 2014 and expiration of a patent for its Humira arthritis drug, which has sales of $9 billion annually.
But, those issues haven't stemmed investor loyalty. Shares are up over 33 percent since the start of 2013, outpacing peers and event the company it spun-off from, Abbott Labs (NYSE: ABT).
Analysts largely see AbbVie garnering another $1.5 billion in sales from Humira and its indication is expanded. AbbVie wants to also increase demand outside of the U.S. for Hunira, where sales were just $4.9 billion last year. The company also has a pipeline of drugs which could generate sales of $6.6 billion by 2020, Barron's noted.
Expected to be approved this year is Duopa, which is a treatment or Parkinson's disease. One analyst from Jefferies noted that a three-drug "cocktail" to combat hep C is the next closest to approval, but probably not until 2015.
AbbVie sees Humira sales hitting $13.9 billion in 2017. Though generics will be able to enter the market then, manufacture is challenging; Humira is derived from living cells rather than chemical combinations, meaning the FDA will probably go through applications with a finer-toothed comb than usual.
Other challenges AbbViw faces include rival hep C drugs in development from names like Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). Failure in clinical trials could also cost AbbVie some market cap.
With hep C being a $20 billion market opportunity, a robust pipeline, and Humira continuing to prevail, AbbVie might just be the right prescription for an ailing portfolio.
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