A wide range of small, medium and large opportunities will be pursued, and if something with a strong strategic fit is found then Abbvie has the firepower to pursue it, it told JP Morgan. This is despite touting total non-Humira 2025 sales expectations of $35bn – a hugely ambitious target – and the unavoidable fact that Abbvie’s biz dev team has yielded such duds as Stemcentrx, which recently had a write down of $4bn of its $5.8bn value. But this is not to say that the big pharma group does not have an urgent need to acquire – a need driven by genericisation of its mega-blockbuster Humira in Europe and from 2023 in the US.Ībbvie’s president, Michael Severino, said oncology would be a major growth driver for 10 years and beyond, and did not beat around the bush about the group’s needs, stating: “We’ll use our strong balance sheet to continue to augment our pipeline through strategic licensing, acquisition and partnering activity.” Of course, this company probably does not fit specifically into Abbvie’s sweet spot. Though he did not rule out a PCSK9-type high-price model, he stated his preference for low price and high volume. How Vascepa will be priced for the broad market – it costs some $300 a month in the niche indication – is not yet known, but Mr Thero pointed to the fact that statins made money by being affordable and treating millions. “And statins grew to over $30bn in revenues before going generic.” “Think of this as somewhat analogous today to where statins were 25 years ago,” said its chief executive, John Thero. However, the group hinted at the possibility of bigger numbers, saying it had capacity with suppliers to sell over $1bn in 2019. A US filing for this additional use is to be made by the end of the first quarter, and Amarin is preparing for the possibility of an advisory panel review.įor this year the group expects Vascepa sales to grow 50% to $350m, a figure that excludes the new, broader use. One example is Amarin, whose purified fish oil drug Vascepa scored a surprising success last year in the huge Reduce-IT cardiovascular outcomes trial that could open up what the company terms a “multi-billion opportunity”. As luck would have it, there was no shortage of small biotechs preening themselves in front of the conference’s attendees, though sceptics might ask why, if their successes have been so notable, they had not already been acquired. Today Abbvie broke the gentlemen’s agreement, stating in no uncertain terms that it would put its strong cash position to use. Big pharma companies presenting at JP Morgan have tended to pay lip service to making big acquisitions, accepting that they were ready to do deals if these presented themselves, but stressing discipline and patience.
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