AbbVie Revenue and Profit Rise, but Humira Misses Expectations
October 28 2016 - 10:01AM
Dow Jones News
By Ezequiel Minaya
Drugmaker AbbVie Inc. posted higher revenue and profit in its
latest quarter, boosted by rising sales of its blockbuster
anti-inflammatory drug, Humira.
The drug's sales increased 11% to $4.06 billion, representing
nearly two-thirds of AbbVie's revenue. However, the growth wasn't
enough to meet expectations of analysts polled by FactSet, who
forecast sales of $4.17 billion.
As a result, AbbVie shares fell 4% to $59 in premarket trading
amid concerns about the company's key product.
Humira is facing increasing competitive pressure. In August,
AbbVie filed a patent-infringement lawsuit against rival Amgen
Inc., seeking to block sales of a lower-priced replica of
Humira.
AbbVie's legal challenge was an expected step under the federal
law that aimed to bring price competition to expensive biotech
drugs by allowing for copies known as biosimilars. The law, the
Biosimilar Price Competition and Innovation Act, established a
mechanism for companies to secure approval of biosimilars without
doing all the testing a new medicine would require.
Over all for the quarter, AbbVie posted a profit of $1.6
billion, or 97 cents a share, up from $1.24 billion, or 74 cents a
share, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, per-share profit
rose to $1.21 from $1.13, topping the average analyst estimate by a
penny.
Total revenue jumped 8.2% to $6.43 billion, below the estimate
of $6.56 billion by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.
AbbVie also revised its earnings forecast for the year. AbbVie
now expects per-share profit of $3.74 to $3.76 and adjusted
per-share earnings of $4.80 to $4.82. In the prior quarter, the
company had expected per-share earnings of $3.82 to $3.92 and
adjusted per-share earnings of $4.73 to $4.83.
AbbVie also increased its quarterly dividend to 64 cents from 57
cents, payable Feb. 15 to shareholders of record Jan. 13.
Write to Ezequiel Minaya at ezequiel.minaya@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2016 09:46 ET (13:46 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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