Sales of AbbVie's Humira Miss Expectations

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 [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 28, 2016 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)

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