AbbVie raises 2024 profit forecast on strong sales of key drugs Skyrizi, Rinvoq
Adds shares in paragraph 2, details on results and dividend in paragraphs 8, 12
Oct 30 (Reuters) -AbbVie ABBV.N raised its annual profit forecast on Wednesday after strong sales of its newer immunology drugs and key cancer treatment helped the company beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter earnings.
The drugmaker's shares rose nearly 2% in premarket trading.
AbbVie now expects its full-year adjusted profit to be between $10.90 and $10.94 per share, compared with its prior forecast range of $10.67 to $10.87 per share.
The company is focusing on its newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq to counter a drop in sales of Humira, once the world's top-selling medicine, after multiple less expensive biosimilars of the arthritis drug hit the U.S. market last year.
Skyrizi recorded third-quarter sales of $3.21 billion, beating the average analyst estimate of $2.93 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. Rinvoq reported sales of $1.61 billion, compared with expectations of $1.54 billion.
On the other hand, Humira's global sales of $2.23 billion missed estimates of $2.39 billion.
Humira's sales miss comes at a time when pharmacy benefit managers, who act as middlemen with insurers, are removing it from their lists of preferred drugs for reimbursement.
Instead, pharmacy benefit managers are recommending biosimilars. Humira's U.S. sales fell 37% in the third quarter.
AbbVie is also expected to face pressure from lower prices of its key cancer drug Imbruvica under Medicare, with the price change expected to come into effect in 2026. The company last year took a $2.1 billion charge related to a likely drop in revenue.
Imbruvica generated $828 million in sales during the third quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $765.1 million.
On an adjusted basis, AbbVie earned $3 per share in the third quarter, beating estimates by 9 cents.
The company also said it will increase its 2025 dividend by 5.8%, beginning in February.
Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta
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