How Strong Is AbbVie's Immunology Franchise After Humira's LOE?

AbbVie ABBV is a dominant player in the immunology space, powered by three blockbuster drugs — Skyrizi, Rinvoq and Humira — which together account for nearly half of its top line. Although the company faced a major setback in 2023 when Humira lost U.S. exclusivity, AbbVie has since returned to robust growth, driven by the strong and accelerating sales trajectories of Skyrizi and Rinvoq.

Despite being only in the third year post-Humira LOE, sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq have not only softened the impact but have also positioned AbbVie for a clear top-line rebound. The company successfully launched both drugs across Humira's major indications and a distinct new indication, atopic dermatitis. Skyrizi and Rinvoq have also demonstrated compelling head-to-head data against several novel therapies in clinical studies, giving them a competitive advantage.

So far this year, the combined sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq have surged 53% year over year to $18.5 billion. This momentum is fueled by strong volume growth and continued market share gains across all approved indications, especially in the popular inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) space, which includes two conditions — ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD). In its Q3 conference call, AbbVie noted that the two drugs together now command roughly half of the in-play CD market and nearly one-third of the UC market in the United States, underscoring strong physician adoption. Building on this strength, AbbVie expects combined sales of the two drugs to exceed $25 billion in 2025.

Strong immunology market growth, market share gains and momentum from new indications, such as the recent launch of Skyrizi in UC, as well as the potential for five new indications for Rinvoq over the next few years, are expected to drive these drugs’ growth. AbbVie expects to file a regulatory submission for Rinvoq for the alopecia areata indication before this year’s end. In addition, phase III data with Rinvoq in hidradenitis suppurativa and systemic lupus erythematosus are expected in 2026. AbbVie believes that the next wave of potential approvals in Rinvoq could contribute roughly $2 billion to peak-year sales for the product. By 2027, AbbVie expects combined sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq to surpass $31 billion.

Apart from immunology, AbbVie has been expanding its presence in oncology and neuroscience. In recent years, the company has added Epkinly, Elahere and most recently, Emrelis, bringing its total oncology therapies to five. Growth in its neuroscience segment is also supported by increasing uptake of its migraine drugs, Ubrelvy and Qulipta.

ABBV’s Rivals in the Immunology Space

The targeted market is highly competitive. A key player in the immunology market is Johnson & Johnson JNJ, which markets two blockbuster drugs — Stelara and Tremfya. Both of these J&J medications are approved for multiple immunology indications, including UC and CD. Since Stelara lost U.S. patent exclusivity earlier this year, J&J has shifted focus to Tremfya to maintain its market position.

Another pharma giant expanding its presence in immunology is Eli Lilly LLY, following the FDA approval of Omvoh for the UC indication in late 2023. Omvoh marked LLY’s first immunology drug approved for a type of IBD in the United States, playing a key role in expanding its portfolio in this therapeutic area. The Eli Lilly drug received FDA approval for the CD indication in January.

ABBV’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates

Shares of AbbVie have outperformed the industry year to date, as seen in the chart below.

From a valuation standpoint, AbbVie is trading at a slight discount to the industry. Based on the price/earnings (P/E) ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 16.31 times forward earnings compared to the industry's average of 16.91. The stock is trading above its five-year mean of 13.43.

Movements in EPS estimates for 2025 and 2026 have been mixed in the past 30 days.

AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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