Great News for AbbVie Stock Investors

AbbVie (ABBV) is experiencing a strong year, with its stock rising 26% due to robust financial performance. The company's outlook for the medium term is promising, as it has no significant patent exclusivity loss remaining in the next decade. AbbVie's two key growth areas, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, are performing exceptionally well. Skyrizi, the company's biggest growth driver, generated almost $10 billion in sales in the first half of the year, a 27% increase year over year.

However, the patent for Skyrizi may begin to expire in the U.S. by 2033, potentially introducing biosimilar competition. To mitigate this, AbbVie is developing a next-generation drug, ABBV-466, which combines risankizumab, the active ingredient in Skyrizi, with trosunilimab. Early Phase 2a results show ABBV-466 achieving higher remission rates in Crohn's disease patients compared to Skyrizi and trosunilimab monotherapy.

AbbVie's attempts to expand its immunology portfolio were further bolstered by its $10.9 billion acquisition of Apogee Therapeutics, which yielded zumilokibart, a medicine being developed for eczema, asthma, and COPD. Zumilokibart may have an advantage over Dupixent, a blockbuster drug with over $15 billion in annual sales, as it could require fewer maintenance injections.

AbbVie's other growth drivers, Rinvoq and other key medicines, are not affected by generics in the U.S. until 2037. The company also boasts attractive pipeline candidates, including ABBV-295, an investigational long-acting weight-loss therapy. Finally, AbbVie is a reliable dividend stock, being a Dividend King with 50 consecutive years of dividend increases and offering a forward yield of 2.5%.