Wholesome Returns: Gross sales of Humira are plunging, however AbbVie has two promising successors

Suppose a good friend or colleague ought to be getting this text? Share this link with them to enroll.

Good morning! Gross sales of AbbVie‘s Humira are plummeting because the once-top-selling drug fights competitors from cheaper biosimilars within the U.S. and overseas. 

However AbbVie has two key medicine that deal with lots of the identical situations as Humira, and they’re proving to be worthy successors to the corporate’s flagship medicine. 

That was clear after AbbVie on Friday reported first-quarter income and adjusted revenue that topped Wall Road’s expectations, partly pushed by energy within the drugmaker’s immunology enterprise. The pharmaceutical big additionally hiked its annual revenue forecast. 

Humira income plunged greater than 30% to $2.3 billion in the course of the first quarter, in line with AbbVie. 

For years, AbbVie has constructed up a wall of patent protections across the drug, successfully extending its market exclusivity nicely past its major U.S. patent expiration in 2016. However Humira misplaced exclusivity within the U.S. final 12 months amid the launch of 9 biosimilars, a few of which have been accessible in Europe since 2019. A tenth biosimilar was launched in February. 

But biosimilars barely took a chew out of AbbVie’s monopoly. As of February, biosimilars captured round 4% of AbbVie’s share of the Humira market, in line with a quarterly report from Samsung Bioepis. 

However that modified after CVS‘s pharmacy advantages supervisor Caremark dropped Humira from a few of its main nationwide formularies for well being plans on April 1 and beneficial biosimilar variations of the medication as an alternative. Formularies are lists of most well-liked medicine for reimbursement. 

The market share for Humira biosimilars rose from 5% to 36% inside every week of the change, in line with data cited by Axios. In April, Swiss firm Sandoz’s biosimilar referred to as Hyrimoz contributed to the vast majority of new prescriptions for Humira biosimilars. That product is being co-marketed by a CVS subsidiary referred to as Cordavis.

However AbbVie continues to be “efficiently navigating” Humira’s patent cliff, the corporate’s CEO Rick Gonzalez stated on the earnings name final week. 

Knowledge signifies that “not all the Humira prescriptions are transferring to a biosimilar,” Chief Business Officer Jeffrey Stewart added in the course of the name. He stated 20% of sufferers are transferring to new medicine, together with AbbVie’s immunology remedies Skyrizi and Rinvoq. 

Skyrizi raked in $2 billion in income for the primary quarter, which was roughly in keeping with Humira’s income for the interval. In the meantime, Rinvoq introduced in $1.1 billion in gross sales for the primary quarter. 

These newer medicine are rising quickly: Skyrizi’s gross sales jumped 48% from the identical interval a 12 months in the past, whereas Rinvoq’s income spiked 59%. 

Skyrizi is the “clear market chief” amongst U.S. biologics for psoriasis, with 35% of the market share, AbbVie executives stated in the course of the name. The corporate is slated to launch the drug in ulcerative colitis sufferers, which executives stated they count on to be a “sturdy” market after a possible approval later this 12 months.

In inflammatory bowel illness, Skyrizi is taking a “important share” of gross sales from J&J’s blockbuster drug Stelara, in line with AbbVie executives. Stelara is predicted to lose exclusivity within the U.S. in 2025. 

In the meantime, Rinvoq is seeing uptake rise amongst sufferers with inflammatory bowel illness, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s illness, amongst different indications. 

Nonetheless, CVS’ choice to exclude Humira from a few of its formularies raises some doubt over how nicely gross sales of the medicine will maintain up within the U.S., particularly if different pharmacy profit managers ultimately observe go well with. 

Humira competitors may additionally warmth up in different methods: Well being insurer Cigna introduced on April 25 that it plans to make sure Humira biosimilars accessible with no out-of-pocket cost to eligible U.S. sufferers utilizing its specialty pharmacy enterprise starting in June.

Alvotech and Teva Pharmaceuticals additionally introduced a take care of an unspecified firm to spice up entry to their biosimilar Simlandi, which mimics Humira’s hottest formulation and could be straight substituted on the pharmacy. 

We’ll proceed to look at how the aggressive panorama for Humira performs out this 12 months. 

Be happy to ship any suggestions, recommendations, story concepts and information to Annika at [email protected].

I am right here to look at UnitedHealth Group’s CEO Andrew Witty testify on Capitol Hill this week in regards to the cyberattack on the corporate’s subsidiary, Change Healthcare. On Wednesday morning, Witty will converse in entrance of the Senate Finance Committee, after which he’ll head over to talk in entrance of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee within the afternoon. 

It is positive to be an eventful day, and each hearings might be livestreamed if you happen to’re curious about tuning in. 

Here is the place issues stand now.

In late February, UnitedHealth disclosed that a part of Change Healthcare’s data know-how community was breached by a cyber menace actor. UnitedHealth disconnected the impacted techniques, and it has been working to deliver them again on-line in current weeks. 

Change Healthcare provides instruments for cost and income cycle administration, amongst different options like e-prescription software program. It carries out 15 billion billing transactions yearly, and one in three affected person data passes by its techniques, in line with the corporate. 

Given the corporate’s scale, the disruption from the cyberattack has brought on widespread fallout throughout the health-care sector. Many docs briefly couldn’t fill prescriptions or receives a commission for his or her companies, as an example. 

On Feb. 29, UnitedHealth stated the ransomware group Blackcat was behind the assault. Blackcat, additionally referred to as Noberus and ALPHV, steals delicate information from establishments and threatens to publish it until a ransom is paid, in line with a December release from the U.S. Division of Justice.

UnitedHealth informed CNBC on April 22 that it paid a ransom to guard affected person information. It additionally confirmed that information containing protected well being data and personally identifiable data had been compromised within the breach, in line with a release.

The corporate stated its investigation into the assault continues to be ongoing, so it might be months earlier than it could possibly notify affected people. UnitedHealth has been working with legislation enforcement, regulators and cybersecurity consultants to evaluate the breach.

I count on lawmakers on the hearings this week will need to know extra particulars about what occurred and what the assault means for suppliers and sufferers.  

I will deliver you all of the updates as they unfold! Keep tuned. 

Be happy to ship any suggestions, recommendations, story concepts and information to Ashley at [email protected].