April 27 (Reuters) – AbbVie (ABBV.N) on Thursday underperformed its quarterly sales estimates for its new therapeutics as it seeks to cushion sales hits from new competition for its flagship arthritis drug Humira. Concerns about the company’s attempts grew.
The company’s share price fell more than 8% as investors scoffed at higher earnings forecasts for the full year and focused on Humira’s 25.2% sales decline and Skyrizi and Rinvoq’s weaker-than-expected performance.
Humira’s sales in the first quarter were $3.54 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $3.58 billion.
The company expects second-quarter net sales of approximately $13.5 billion.
The rheumatoid arthritis drug Humira, once the world’s best-selling drug, faces competition from biosimilars in the United States.
AbbVie said in February that it expects Humira sales to fall 37% for the year as a whole.
Amgen Inc (AMGN.O) recently launched its first U.S. Humira competitor, biosimilar Amjevita, at discounts of 5% and 55% off Humira’s monthly price of $6,922.
Shares of Amgen, which reports quarterly results on Thursday, were down 0.6% in morning trading.
AbbVie avoided some of the “sales cliff” caused by Humira’s loss of exclusivity with its 2020 acquisition of Allergan and the company’s revenue cow, Botox.
However, Refinitiv IBES data shows that Rinvoq’s $686 million in sales fell short of its first-quarter estimate of $713.7 million, while Skyrizi’s $1.36 billion in sales also fell short of its $1.46 billion estimate. It fell short of expectations of $10,000.
The company said sales of both drugs took a hit as customers stocked up on the product.
“AbbVie needs to instill confidence that growth from new inflammation franchises will drive revenue. Humira turns into biosimilar entrant. Quarter weakness is not great, but we is focused on keeping this from becoming a trend, said Evan Sagerman.
Sales of Botox for cosmetic use rose 3% to $659 million, beating Wall Street estimates by $50 million, while therapeutic use surged 17% to $719 million, below forecast of $65140. over a million dollars.
This resulted in AbbVie exceeding expectations with revenue of $12.23 billion, exceeding expectations by $12.17 billion.
The company now expects 2023 adjusted earnings of $10.72 to $11.12 per share, raising both ends of the range by 10 cents.
Earlier this month, AbbVie cut its full-year earnings forecast by 8 cents, citing a $150 million hit from the acquisition’s ongoing R&D and milestone charges.
Reporting by Mariam E. Sunny and Leroy Leo of Bangalore. Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila
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