Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) has maintained a Hold rating on Abbvie (NYSE: ABBV) with a steady price target of $175.00, following the analysis of recent prescription data for the company's flagship drug, Humira.
The data, which covers the week ending August 16, 2024, indicates that branded Humira retains a 70.9% share of the Adalimumab prescriptions, a slight week-over-week decrease.
Additionally, the co-branded version of Humira, developed in partnership with Cordavis, has captured a 10.3% share, marking an increase from the previous week.
Together, Abbvie's branded and co-branded Humira versions are holding an 81.2% share of the market, showing a marginal increase. In contrast, Cordavis' Hyrimoz biosimilar has seen its share grow to 12.6%.
Despite these figures, the volume of Abbvie's branded and co-branded Humira prescriptions has declined by 22% year-to-date and 29% year-over-year. If this downward trend continues, it could lead to an adjusted volume erosion of approximately 17% year-to-date and 22% year-over-year.
Abbvie has previously projected that its full-year 2024 sales for Humira in the U.S. would fall by 36% year-over-year, which equates to a reduction of around $7.8 billion, primarily due to pricing pressures.
The company has assured that access to Humira will remain consistent for a significant majority of covered lives in 2024, based on current contracts. As the second half of the year progresses, Abbvie is expected to face less pressure from pricing comparisons relative to the first half, suggesting that volume erosion will become a more significant factor in the latter part of 2024.
In other recent news, AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV)'s target share price was raised to $209 from $196 by Piper Sandler, while Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) increased AbbVie's price target to $200 from $190. Both firms maintain a positive outlook for AbbVie.
The company's new drug, TEPKINLY, received conditional approval from the European Commission to treat adult patients with relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma, based on EPCORE NHL-1 clinical trial results.
Furthermore, AbbVie completed its acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics, expanding its neuroscience portfolio and reaffirming its full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance for 2024.
InvestingPro Insights
As AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) navigates the competitive landscape with its flagship drug, Humira, and anticipates a significant drop in sales due to pricing pressures, it's important for investors to consider the company's financial health and market position. With a robust market capitalization of $346.75 billion and a dividend yield of 3.16%, AbbVie demonstrates financial strength and a commitment to shareholder returns, having raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years—an InvestingPro Tip that underscores the company's stable financial practices.
Investors should note that AbbVie's stock has shown strong performance, with a 37.58% return over the past year and a notable 23.67% return in the last three months. This trend aligns with the InvestingPro Tip highlighting the company's strong returns over multiple time frames, including the last three, five, and ten years. However, the P/E ratio stands at a high 64.99, which suggests that the stock is trading at a premium compared to earnings. Additionally, the stock is trading near its 52-week high, at 99% of this peak value, indicating investor confidence in the company's prospects.
While the immediate prescription data for Humira shows a challenging environment, these InvestingPro Data points and Tips offer a broader perspective on AbbVie's financial standing. For a more comprehensive analysis and additional InvestingPro Tips on AbbVie, investors can visit https://www.investing.com/pro/ABBV, where they will find a total of 15 tips to guide their investment decisions.
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