AbbVie Acquires Pharmacyclics To Help Secure Future Cash Flows As Humira Biosimilars Loom, Says GlobalData Analyst

Joshua Owide, GlobalData’s Director of Healthcare Industry Dynamics, says:

AbbVie’s acquisition of Pharmacyclics (PCYC), valued at $21B, will help the company alleviate its dependency on Humira, which accounted for 62% of its total revenues in 2014, up from 57% in 2013. This is a major step for AbbVie following the terminated Shire deal, as the rest of AbbVie’s business is faltering. The company’s pharmaceutical revenues, excluding Humira, shrank by $467M last year.

To compound this, the threat of Humira biosimilars is looming ever nearer, with Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics, Sandoz and Samsung all in late-stage clinical development with their respective adalimumab biosimilars. These are expected to have a major impact on Humira sales following its anticipated 2018 US patent expiration.

However, PCYC’s lead product Imbruvica (ibrutinib) will bring in revenue of more than $40B over 15 years and clinical pipeline assets include abexinostat, in development for multiple cancer types, PCI-27483, for pancreatic cancer, and BTK inhibitors, to treat autoimmune disorders.

There is notable synergy with AbbVie’s oncology pipeline, as three compounds in PCYC’s late-stage development are expected to generate peak annual revenues of more than $3B. As such, the deal will secure AbbVie the status of having the eighth most valuable oncology portfolio, with a Net Present Value of $30B, up from eighteenth based on pre-PCYC acquisition estimates.

For guidelines on how to cite GlobalData, visit http://www.globaldata.com/QuotingGlobalData.aspx

About GlobalData
GlobalData is a leading global research and consulting firm offering advanced analytics to help clients make better, more informed decisions every day. Our research and analysis is based on the expert knowledge of over 700 qualified business analysts and 25,000 interviews conducted with industry insiders every year, enabling us to offer the most relevant, reliable and actionable strategic business intelligence available for a wide range of industries.