Abbott third quarter profits grow as Humira sales soar
pharmafile | October 21, 2004 | News story | |Â Â Â
Abbott Laboratories' third quarter profits grew by 8.7% to $853 million, driven by global sales increases of 10.2%, which were spurred on by the success of new arthritis drug Humira, as well as triglyceride-lowering medicines and HIV treatments.
Sales of Humira alone soared by 189% to $227 million in the period, after the treatment had the most successful launch in Abbott's 115-year history. The first fully human monoclonal antibody for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the injectable medicine is proving a strong competitor for the more established drugs in its class: J&J's Remicade and Amgen/Wyeth's Enbrel.
Meanwhile, sales of TriCor (fenofibrate) tablets – the treatment for adults with high serum triglyceride levels – increased 36% to $208 million in the third quarter. TriCor is specifically designated for types IV and V hyperlipidemia, where there is risk of pancreatitis.
Abbott is currently in litigation with generic pharmaceutical companies to defend its TriCor patents. Several companies, including IMPAX Labs, have filed for approval of a generic version of the drug, which Abbott maintains is an infringement of current TriCor patents.
The FDA has already granted tentative approval to IMPAX's version of TriCor, but final approval must await the end of legal proceedings, and the expiration of the 30-month stay and generic marketing exclusivity periods.
Sales of Kaletra (lopinavir), the HIV treatment used to treat protease-inhibitor HIV rose 22% to $224 million. The costly drug has been at the centre of a controversy this year after the company increased the price of its older HIV treatment Norvir by 400%. US-based activists, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, mounted a public campaign against the company, claiming the price increase was intended to force a switch to Kaletra.
Meanwhile, sales of thyroid replacement drug Synthroid fell by 6% due to generic competition, and sales of ulcer treatment Prevacid tumbled by 8% as patients chose a cheaper over-the-counter version: AstraZeneca's Prilosec.
Abbott forecasts earnings for 2004 to rise in the 10 to 11% range, excluding the discontinued hospital products operations but analysts JP Morgan warn that the company's pharmaceutical division growth in profits will slow in the near future.
One of the main reasons for the drop-off in growth will be new generic competition on its Biaxin and Biaxin XL products, expected as early as May 2005.
