AbbVie Results Boosted by Humira, Pipeline Growth

Drugmaker AbbVie Inc. lifted its profit forecast for the year Friday after second-quarter results easily topped expectations, boosted by its growing pipeline and higher sales of its anti-inflammatory drug Humira.

Shares of AbbVie, up 6% over the past year, rose 1.8% to $65.90 in morning trading in New York.

AbbVie continued to be led by Humira, sales of which rose 17% to $4.15 billion in the second quarter. The company cited continued momentum across the drug's three major market categories—rheumatology, dermatology and gastroenterology.

Also likely helping Humira sales were higher drug prices. The average U.S. net price for a Humira package, including all rebates and discounts, rose 18% last year, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, citing data AbbVie submitted to Medicare.

The Illinois company, formed in 2013 when it spun off from Abbott Laboratories, has been aggressively on the hunt for drugs that will lessen its dependence on Humira, which faces potential competition from copycat drugs in the years ahead.

In June, AbbVie acquired cancer-drug developer Stemcentrx Inc. for $5.8 billion, a deal that followed last year's $21 billion acquisition of Pharmacyclics Inc. through which AbbVie won partial rights to the blood-cancer drug Imbruvica. It also has recently received regulatory clearance in the U.S. for leukemia treatment Venclexta and multiple sclerosis drug Zinbryta.

Total revenue rose 18% to $6.45 billion, above the estimate of $6.20 billion by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

AbbVie posted a profit of $1.61 billion, or 98 cents a share, up from $1.37 billion, or 83 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding intangible asset amortization expenses, among other items, per-share profit rose to $1.26 from $1.08.

Analysts expected $1.20 in adjusted earnings per share.

Following the better-than-expected second-quarter results and considering newly-acquired drugs. AbbVie pushed up its per-share earnings forecast for the year to $4.73 to $4.83 from $4.62 to $4.82. Analysts have projected $4.75 a share.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2016 10:25 ET (14:25 GMT)

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