AbbVie is an American publicly traded
biopharmaceutical
A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...
company founded in 2013. It originated as a
spin-off of
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...
.
History
On October 19, 2011,
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is an American multinational medical devices and health care company with headquarters in Abbott Park, Illinois, United States. The company was founded by Chicago physician Wallace Calvin Abbott in 1888 to formulate known dr ...
announced its plan to separate into two publicly traded companies. The new Abbott Laboratories would specialize in diversified products including medical devices, diagnostic equipment and nutrition products, while AbbVie would operate as a research-based pharmaceutical manufacturer.
The separation was effective January 1, 2013, and AbbVie was officially listed on the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...
(ABBV) on January 2, 2013.
According to Miles White, CEO at the time, the purpose of the split was to allow markets to value the two businesses separately.
Some investors were concerned that the split was done to protect the value of the device business from the loss of value facing the drug division due to the imminent expiration of patents on
Humira
Adalimumab, sold under the brand name Humira, among others, is a monoclonal antibody used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativ ...
, which accounted for about half of the drug division's revenue.
As of December 2015, the company employed in excess of 28,000 globally, and provided products to individuals in more than 170 countries.
As of October 2022, the company now employs over 50,000 globally and provides products in over 175 countries.
In March 2020, as the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
developed into an international crisis, the Israeli government announced that it would force AbbVie to license its patents for
Kaletra
Lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r), sold under the brand name Kaletra among others, is a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral medication for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. It combines lopinavir with a low dose of ritonavir. It is generall ...
, the brand name of
lopinavir/ritonavir
Lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r), sold under the brand name Kaletra among others, is a fixed-dose combination antiretroviral medication for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. It combines lopinavir with a low dose of ritonavir. It is generall ...
, a fixed dose combination medication for the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS which was also thought to have some applicability to fighting
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In response, AbbVie announced that it would cease enforcing its patents on the drug entirely.
In June 2021, the
US Senate Finance Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Finance (or, less formally, Senate Finance Committee) is a standing committee of the United States Senate. The Committee concerns itself with matters relating to taxation and other revenue measures generall ...
, under Chair
Ron Wyden
Ronald Lee Wyden (; born May 3, 1949) is an American politician and retired educator serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Oregon, a seat he has held since 1996 United Stat ...
(D-OR), began an investigation to determine if the company used the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017
The Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018, , is a congressional revenue act of the United States originally introduced in Congress as the Tax Cuts and Jobs A ...
to buy back its own stock using income saved by the tax law. In a letter to AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez, Wyden noted the company suffered a 2020 pretax loss in the US of $4.5 billion and an overseas pretax profit of $7.9 billion the same year. Wyden accused the company of shifting revenue to avoid US taxes.
Acquisitions
In January 2014, the company acquired ImmuVen for an undisclosed sum. On September 3, 2014, AbbVie and Infinity Pharmaceuticals announced that they had entered into a global collaboration to develop and commercialize
duvelisib
Duvelisib, sold under the brand name Copiktra, is a medication used to treat chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), and follicular lymphoma after other treatments have failed. It is taken by mouth. It is a PI3 kin ...
, Infinity's
PI3K inhibitor
Phosphoinositide 3-kinase inhibitors (PI3K inhibitors) are a class of medical drugs that are mainly used to treat advanced cancers. They function by inhibiting one or more of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) enzymes, which are part of the PI ...
for the treatment of patients with cancer. On the same day, AbbVie and
Calico
Calico (; in British usage since 1505) is a heavy plain-woven textile made from unbleached, and often not fully processed, cotton. It may also contain unseparated husk parts. The fabric is far coarser than muslin, but less coarse and thick than ...
announced that they had entered into a
R&D collaboration intended to discover, develop and bring to market new therapies for patients with
diseases of aging including
neurodegeneration
A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...
and cancer. California Life Company, operating as Calico, is an
Alphabet Inc.
Alphabet Inc. is an American multinational technology conglomerate holding company headquartered in Mountain View, California. It was created through a restructuring of Google on October 2, 2015, and became the parent company of Google and sev ...
subsidiary focused on aging and age-related diseases, and led by former
Genentech
Genentech, Inc., is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within R ...
chairman and CEO of
Arthur D. Levinson and former Genentech
EVP and
chief medical officer Hal V. Barron
Hal V. Barron (born 1962) is an American clinician-scientist and drug developer who served as president of research and development at GlaxoSmithKline from March 2018 until 2022, when he resigned in order to join the cellular reprogramming ventu ...
(who subsequently left the company).
In October 2014, after a long negotiation, AbbVie stopped its efforts to acquire
Shire
Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...
, which would have been one of the largest M&A deals of that year and one of the largest
tax inversions in history, due to changes in the US tax code by the US Treasury; AbbVie had to pay a $1.6 billion breakup fee.
On March 4, 2015, AbbVie announced its agreement to acquire the
oncology
Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγκος (''ó ...
firm
Pharmacyclics and its treatment for blood cancers,
ibrutinib
Ibrutinib, sold under the brand name Imbruvica among others, is a small molecule drug that inhibits B-cell proliferation and survival by irreversibly binding the protein Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). Blocking BTK inhibits the B-cell receptor ...
;
AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includin ...
had also been bidding to acquire Pharmacyclics. Under the terms of the transaction, AbbVie agreed to pay $261.25 per share as a mix of cash and AbbVie equity. The acquisition valued at approximately $21 billion was completed on May 26, 2015. The Pharmacyclics name was retained, and it operates as a subsidiary of AbbVie from its previous
Sunnyvale, California
Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwest Santa Clara County in the U.S. state of California.
Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the nort ...
, headquarters.
On June 3, 2015, AbbVie and Halozyme Therapeutics announced that they had entered into a global collaboration and licensing agreement to develop and commercialize products that combine AbbVie's treatments and Halozyme's ENHANZE drug-delivery technology, this was terminated in November 2016.
On 28 April 2016, the company announced it would acquire Stemcentrx for up to $9.8 billion. A day later, the company announced an expansion of a two and a half-year-old cystic fibrosis deal with
Galapagos, potentially doubling milestone payments to $600 million.
On 25 June 2019, AbbVie announced it would acquire Irish-based
Allergan plc
Allergan plc is an American, Irish-domiciled pharmaceutical company that acquires, develops, manufactures and markets brand name drugs and medical devices in the areas of medical aesthetics, eye care, central nervous system, and gastroenterology. ...
for about $63 billion; however the transaction would not be structured as a
tax inversion, and that post the transaction, AbbVie (and the group) would remain legally domiciled in the U.S. for tax purposes;
AbbVie acquisition of Allergan plc violated antitrust ruled by the
Federal Trade Commission
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. The FTC shares jurisdiction ov ...
on September 4, 2020, leading to the group divesting certain assets to enable the merger to proceed. In July, the company announced it would acquire Mavupharma, boosting its cancer drug pipeline.
In May 2021, Allergan Aesthetics announced it would acquire Soliton. In June, Abbvie announced it would acquire TeneoOne and its lead compound
TNB-383B. The compound is a
BCMA-targeting
immunotherapeutic for relapsed or refractory
multiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, an ...
.
In March 2022, Abbvie announced it would acquire Belgian-based Syndesi Therapeutics for up to $1 billion and its portfolio of novel modulators of the
synaptic vesicle protein 2A
Synaptic vesicle glycoprotein 2A is a ubiquitous synaptic vesicle protein that in humans is encoded by the ''SV2A'' gene. The protein is targeted by the anti-epileptic drugs (anticonvulsants) levetiracetam and brivaracetam
Brivaracetam, sold u ...
and lead compound
SDI-118. In October, AbbVie announced they would acquire U.K.-based biotechnology business
DJS Antibodies for $225 milion, in a deal that gives it access to an experimental drug for an aggressive lung disease as well as technology to develop certain kinds of antibody medicines.
Acquisition history
*Abbvie
(Spin off from Abbott Laboratories)
**
Pharmacyclics (Acq 2015)
** Stemcentrx
(Acq 2016)
**Venice Subsidiary LLC
***
Allergan, plc
Allergan plc is an American, Irish-domiciled pharmaceutical company that acquires, develops, manufactures and markets brand name drugs and medical devices in the areas of medical aesthetics, eye care, central nervous system, and gastroenterology. ...
(Acq 2019)
****
Allergan, inc
Allergan, Inc. was an American global pharmaceutical company focused on eye care, neurosciences, medical dermatology, medical aesthetics, breast enhancement, obesity intervention and urologics. Allergan, Inc. was formed in 1948, incorporated in ...
*****MAP Pharmaceuticals Inc
(Acq 2013)
*****Kythera Biopharmaceuticals
(Acq 2015)
****
Actavis plc
Actavis Generics (formerly known as Watson Pharmaceuticals and Actavis plc, prior to the acquisition of Irish-based Allergan Inc) is a global pharmaceutical company focused on acquiring, developing, manufacturing and marketing branded pharmaceuti ...
*****Eden Biodesign
*****Watson Pharmaceuticals
*****Warner Chilcott Plc
(Acq 2000)
*****Andrx Corporation
(Acq 2006)
*****Procter & Gamble
(Prescription drug div, Acq 2009)
*****Arrow Group
(Acq 2009)
*****Specifar Pharmaceuticals S.A.
(Acq 2011)
*****Ascent Pharmahealth Ltd
(Acq 2012)
*****Actavis Group
(Acq 2012)
*****Galen
(Acq 2013)
*****Uteron Pharma, S.A.
(Acq 2013)
*****Durata Therapeutics
(Acq 2014)
*****Silom Medical Company
(Acq 2014)
*****
Forest Laboratories
Forest Laboratories was a company in the pharmaceutical industry incorporated in Delaware, with its principal office in New York City. It was known for licensing European pharmaceuticals for sale in the United States. On July 1, 2014, the compan ...
(Acq 2014)
******Aptalis Pharma
*******Axcan Pharma
*******Eurand Pharmaceuticals
******Furiex Pharmaceuticals Inc
(Acq 2014)
*****Auden Mckenzie Holdings Limited
(Acq 2015)
****Oculeve, Inc
(Acq 2015)
****Naurex Inc
(Acq 2015)
****AqueSys
(Acq 2015)
****Northwood Medical Innovation Ltd
(Acq 2015)
****Topokine Therapeutics
(Acq 2016)
****Vitae Pharmaceuticals, Inc
(Acq 2016)
****Tobira Therapeutics
(Acq 2016)
****ForSight VISION5
(Acq 2016)
****RetroSense Therapeutics
(Acq 2016)
****Akarna Therapeutics
(Acq 2016)
****Motus Therapeutics
(Acq 2016)
****Chase Pharmaceuticals
(Acq 2016)
****LifeCell
(Acq 2016)
****Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc.
(Acq 2017)
****Keller Medical, Inc
(Acq 2017)
****
Repros Therapeutics
Repros Therapeutics Inc. (), was a US-based development stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. Founded in 1987 as Zonagen, it focused on the development of oral small molecule drugs to address major unmet medical n ...
(Acq 2017)
****Envy Medical, Inc.
(Acq 2019)
****Mavupharma
(Acq 2019)
****Soliton
(Acq 2021)
**TeneoOne
(Acq 2021)
**Syndesi Therapeutics
(Acq 2022)
**DJS Antibodies
(Acq 2022)
Collaboration
On February 10, 2016, AbbVie and
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...
-based Synlogic announced a multi-year R&D collaboration. Synlogic is a
synthetic biology
Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature.
It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad ran ...
company built on research from the labs of
James Collins and Tim Lu at
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
. As part of the collaboration, AbbVie is getting worldwide rights to Synlogic's
probiotic
Probiotics are live microorganisms promoted with claims that they provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the gut microbiota. Probiotics are considered generally safe to consume, but may cause bacteria-host i ...
-based technology for treating
inflammatory bowel disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of inflammation, inflammatory conditions of the colon (anatomy), colon and small intestine, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis being the principal types. Crohn's disease affects the small intestine a ...
, and the research teams will focus on
Crohn's disease
Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that may affect any segment of the gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms often include abdominal pain, diarrhea (which may be bloody if inflammation is severe), fever, abdominal distension ...
and
ulcerative colitis
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and a ...
.
In April 2016, the company partnered with the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...
to investigate a number of areas of oncology: breast, lung, prostate, colorectal and hematological cancers. In the same month the company announced it would co-commercialize Argenx's preclinical immunotherapy, ARGX-115. ARGX-115 is a first-in-class immunotherapy targeting GARP (glycoprotein A repetitions predominant), a membrane protein believed to enhance the immunosuppressive effects of
T cells
A T cell is a type of lymphocyte. T cells are one of the important white blood cells of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell re ...
. The company also announced a deal to co-develop/commercialize at least one of CytomX Probody's conjugates against
CD71
Transferrin receptor protein 1 (TfR1), also known as Cluster of Differentiation 71 (CD71), is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TFRC'' gene. TfR1 is required for iron import from transferrin into cells by endocytosis.
Structure and func ...
(transferrin receptor 1).
In March 2020, AbbVie announced plans to evaluate the Kaletra/Aluvia HIV medicine as possible COVID-19 treatment. The company entered into various partnerships with health authorities in different countries to investigate the efficacy of the medication. However, the first non-blinded, randomized trial found the drug not useful to treat severe COVID-19.
Products
According to the ''Wall Street Journal'' as of January 2016
ibrutinib
Ibrutinib, sold under the brand name Imbruvica among others, is a small molecule drug that inhibits B-cell proliferation and survival by irreversibly binding the protein Bruton's tyrosine kinase (BTK). Blocking BTK inhibits the B-cell receptor ...
, a
specialty drug
Specialty drugs or specialty pharmaceuticals are a recent designation of pharmaceuticals that are classified as high-cost, high complexity and/or high touch. Specialty drugs are often biologics—"drugs derived from living cells" that are injectab ...
, cost US$116,600 to $155,400 a year wholesale in the United States. In spite of discounts and medical insurance, the prohibitive price causes some patients to not fill their prescriptions.
AbbVie estimates global sales of the drug at $1 billion in 2016 and $5 billion in 2020.
In 2018, it started litigation against
NHS England
NHS England, officially the NHS Commissioning Board, is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. It oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the ...
in the
Technology and Construction Court
The King's Bench Division (or Queen's Bench Division when the monarch is female) of the High Court of Justice deals with a wide range of common law cases and has supervisory responsibility over certain lower courts.
It hears appeals on point ...
claiming that they breached procurement rules and had not treated the company fairly during what was described as "the single largest medicines procurement ever done by the NHS" when seeking suppliers for
hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV) that primarily affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. During the initial infection people often have mild or no symptoms. Occasionally a fever, dark urine, a ...
treatments. In 2019, a UK court dismissed AbbVie's case against the NHS.
As of 2019, the company remained committed to product development in the
cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...
disease area, despite major success by their main competitor in the area,
Vertex
Vertex, vertices or vertexes may refer to:
Science and technology Mathematics and computer science
*Vertex (geometry), a point where two or more curves, lines, or edges meet
* Vertex (computer graphics), a data structure that describes the positio ...
.
Controversies
Drug price hikes
Humira is a drug used to treat
rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...
,
Crohn's, and other
autoimmune diseases
An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. At least 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been identified, with some evidence suggesting that there may be more than 100 types. Nearly a ...
. First released in 2003, AbbVie has since raised the drug's price by more than 470 percent, culminating in an annual supply now costing about $77,000. It has increased the price of
Imbruvica, a drug used to treat
mantle cell lymphoma
Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), comprising about 6% of NHL cases. There are only about 15,000 patients presently in the United States with mantle cell lymphoma. It is named for the mantle zone of the lymph n ...
and other cancers, by 82 percent since it launched in 2013. In 2022, it’s priced at $181,529. For patients taking four pills each day, it costs $242,039.
Anti-competitive practices
AbbVie has been accused of using anti-competitive patent thickets to prevent potentially cheaper
biosimilars
A biosimilar (also known as follow-on biologic or subsequent entry biologic) is a biologic medical product that is almost an identical copy of an original product that is manufactured by a different company. Biosimilars are officially approved v ...
from entering the market. It is currently caught up in a legislative battle against Icelandic Alvotech, which is trying to bring a Humira biosimilar to market.
Forest Laboratories
Forest Laboratories was a company in the pharmaceutical industry incorporated in Delaware, with its principal office in New York City. It was known for licensing European pharmaceuticals for sale in the United States. On July 1, 2014, the compan ...
, a subsidiary of AbbVie, has been accused of using unlawful deals to prevent generic versions of its
Alzheimer’s disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...
drug,
Namenda, from entering the market.
In 2018, AbbVie agreed to pay $25 million to resolve allegations that it made use of kickback schemes to promote its cholesterol drug
Tricor
Fenofibrate (sold under the brand names ''Tricor'', ''Fenobrat'' etc.), is an oral medication of the fibrate class used to treat abnormal blood lipid levels. It is less commonly used compared than statins because it treats a different type of ...
. In 2020, AbbVie agreed to pay $24M to resolve allegations that it made use of
kickback schemes to promote its
rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and hands are involv ...
drug Humira using "nurse ambassadors".
Marketing of Opioid painkillers
In July 2022 the company agreed to pay up to $2.37 billion to settle U.S. lawsuits against its
Allergan
Allergan plc is an American, Irish-domiciled pharmaceutical company that acquires, develops, manufactures and markets brand name drugs and medical devices in the areas of medical aesthetics, eye care, central nervous system, and gastroenterology. ...
unit over the marketing of
opioid
Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...
painkillers
An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...
. As part of the settlement, AbbVie, denied any wrongdoing. The company's stock fell 6 percent following an earnings report that included a $2.2 billion charge related to the opioid deal.
Carbon footprint
AbbVie reported Total
CO2e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 508 Kt (-57 /-10.1% y-o-y).
[Alt URL]
/ref> and plans to reduce emissions 25% by 2025 from a 2015 base year.[Alt URL]
/ref>
References
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
2013 establishments in Illinois
Biotechnology companies of the United States
Biopharmaceutical companies
Companies based in Lake County, Illinois
Biotechnology companies established in 2013
Pharmaceutical companies established in 2013
American companies established in 2013
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Orphan drug companies
Pharmaceutical companies of the United States
Health care companies based in Illinois
Corporate spin-offs
Abbott Laboratories
2013 initial public offerings