AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) held its first-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday. Below is the complete transcript from the call.
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Summary
AbbVie reported a strong start to 2026 with first-quarter earnings exceeding expectations, achieving an adjusted EPS of $2.65 and total net revenues of $15 billion, reflecting a 12.4% sales growth.
The company raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to between $14.08 and $14.28 due to robust performance, particularly in Immunology and Neuroscience.
Significant advancements were made in R&D, with promising data from Skyrizi in Crohn’s disease and Rinvoq’s regulatory submissions for Alopecia Areata, alongside strategic transactions expanding the oncology pipeline.
AbbVie announced strategic investments in new manufacturing sites, including a $1.4 billion campus in North Carolina, to support long-term growth in key therapeutic areas.
Management expressed confidence in the company’s competitive position, highlighting sustained growth potential and financial capacity to pursue business development opportunities.
Full Transcript
Operator
Good morning and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the AbbVie first quarter 2026 earnings conference call. All participants will be able to listen only until the question and answer portion of this call. You may ask a question by pressing Star one on your phone. Today’s call is also being recorded. If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time. I would now like to introduce Ms. Liz Shea, senior Vice President, Investor Relations. Good morning and thanks for joining us. Also on the call with me today are Rob Michael, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Stewart, Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer Rupal Thakar, Executive Vice President, Research and Development and Chief Financial Officer and Scott Runtz, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer before we get started, I’ll note that some statements we make today may be considered forward looking statements based on our current expectations. AbbVie cautions that these forward looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in our forward looking statements. Additional information about these risks and uncertainties is included in our SEC filings. AbbVie undertakes no obligation to update these forward looking statements except as required by law. On today’s conference call, non GAAP financial measures will be used to help investors understand AbbVie’s business performance. These non GAAP financial measures are reconciled with comparable GAAP financial measures in our earnings release and regulatory filings from today which can be found on our website. Following our prepared remarks, we’ll take your questions. So with that, I’ll turn the call over to Rob.
Rob Michael (Chairman and Chief Executive Officer)
Thank you Liz Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us. AbbVie is off to an excellent start to the year with first quarter results exceeding our expectations across our diverse portfolio, we are delivering top tier growth and continue to strengthen our long term outlook with pipeline advancements and strategic transactions. Turning to our first quarter performance, we achieved adjusted earnings per share of $2.65 which is $0.07 above our guidance midpoint. Total net revenues were $15 billion, beating our expectations by 300 million and reflecting robust sales growth of 12.4%. I’m especially pleased with the momentum in Immunology and Neuroscience which are both delivering share gains in growing markets. Based on this strong performance, we are raising our full year adjusted earnings per share guidance by $0.12 and now expect adjusted EPS between $14.08 and $14.28. Turning now to RD, we are making meaningful progress advancing programs across all stages of development. Recent highlights include the US Regulatory submissions of RINVOQ for Alopecia Areata giving us a potential new source of growth in dermatology and Skyrizi subq induction in Crohn’s, with an approval decision expected later this year. We also saw promising interim data from our Crohn’s platform study combining Skyrizi and our own Alpha 4 Beta 7, which has potential to deliver transformational efficacy in obesity. We announced early stage data for our Amylin analog 295 with very encouraging weight loss results in oncology. We are now expecting the regulatory submission for etentomig by the end of this year, which is earlier than our previous expectations. We also expanded our emerging oncology pipeline by closing the Remigen agreement, giving us a novel PD1VEGF bispecific antibody. We will continue to augment our portfolio with business development to access external innovation and given our strong growth outlook, we have significant financial capacity to pursue both early and late stage opportunities. Lastly, as part of AbbVie’s $100 billion commitment to U.S. r&D and capital investments over the next decade, we recently announced construction of several new manufacturing sites. This includes a $1.4 billion investment to build a full pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in North Carolina and a $380 million investment for two new plants in North Chicago. These strategic investments will strengthen Abby’s ability to produce medical breakthroughs in immunology, neuroscience, oncology and obesity. In summary, the fundamentals of our business are strong and we are well positioned to deliver top tier growth for the long term. With that, I’ll turn the call over to Jeff for additional comments on our commercial highlights.
Jeff Stewart (Executive Vice President, Chief Commercial Officer)
Jeff thank you Rob. I’ll start with the quarterly results for immunology which delivered total revenues of $7.3 billion, reflecting impressive sales growth of a billion dollars. Skyrizi total sales were $4.5 billion, up 29.2% on an operational basis exceeding our expectations. We continue to demonstrate exceptional performance across psoriatic disease where we are gaining share and have clear leadership over all biologics and orals by a very wide margin. The psoriatic market is growing robustly and we feel extremely confident in Skyrizi’s best in class profile, including high endurable efficacy on both skin and joints as well as simple quarterly dosing which collectively gives us a distinct advantage relative to all the existing and emerging therapies in this area and we continue to generate compelling evidence to support Skyrizi as the preferred treatment option for psoriatic disease. At the recent AAD meeting we presented new data highlighting Skyrizi’s strong efficacy in genital and scalp psoriasis which are very difficult to treat, areas often leading to significant social and emotional burden to patients. The FDA has recently approved adding the new study results in these high impact areas to the Skyrizi label. We also now have long term efficacy in radiographic data in psoriatic arthritis demonstrating Skyrizi’s durable efficacy with nearly 90% of patients showing no radiographic progression through five years of treatment. This data will enhance our existing leadership in the important PSA segment where Skyrizi is the frontline inplay patient share leader in both the derm and room segments. Performance also remains very robust in IBD where Skyrizi is on track to deliver more than 30% global sales growth across Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis this year. Competitive dynamics within IBD are playing out in line with our expectations with Skyrizi continuing to capture a leading share of total new patient starts in the US in the quarter, including very significant in play leadership in the frontline setting which is the strongest signal of overall physician preference for Skyrizi. I’m also pleased with the compelling results from our recent subcutaneous induction study for Crohn’s with data particularly in the bio naive population that we believe compares very favorably versus the competition and we look forward to providing an additional dosing option for physicians and IBD patients later this year. Turning now to Rinvoq which is also performing above our expectations, Global sales were $2.1 billion, up 20.2% on an operational basis. Demand remains strong across all of Rinvoq’s indications. We are now achieving high teens in play patient share in RA and are seeing a nice inflection in prescriptions across gastro, especially in uc following the recent expanded label supporting access to Rinvoq earlier in the treatment paradigm for IBD patients. We are also planning for the potential near term commercialization of two additional indications, Vitiligo and alopecia areata, which will meaningfully expand Rinvoq’s dermatology label and where we have also recently expanded our field force to support these emerging opportunities. Lastly, in Immunology Humira Global sales were $688 million down 40.3% on an operational basis reflecting biosimilar competition and in line with our expectations moving to neuroscience where we continue to outperform our expectations as well. Total revenues were nearly $2.9 billion, up 24.3% on an operational basis. In Migraine our leading portfolio continues to gain market share with Ubrelvi Qlipta and Botox Therapeutic each delivering robust double digit sales growth. In psychiatry, Vailar Global sales were $905 million, up 18.4%, reflecting strong prescription growth in both bipolar disorder and adjunctive mdd. Vralar has significant leadership with new prescription share roughly double the next closest branded competitor and we expect continued momentum following the introduction of new lower doses allowing prescribing flexibility as well as pediatric usage. Moving to Parkinson’s disease, we continue to see encouraging uptake for Vilev, which is on track to achieve blockbuster revenue this year. Total sales were $201 million, up approximately 10% on a sequential basis. We are also preparing for the potential approval and launch of Tavapadone in the US later this year, an exciting new oral treatment for patients with Parkinson’s and a very complementary addition to our growing Parkinson’s portfolio. With Vilev and Duodopa, Tavapadone has demonstrated strong efficacy as both a monotherapy as well as an add on to the standard of care and we believe it will be a sizable commercial opportunity. Moving now to Oncology where total revenues were more than $1.6 billion, down 3% on an operational basis. Venclexta continues to perform very well, especially in CLL as combination use with BTK inhibitors are emerging as a preferred fixed treatment duration globally. We’ve recently received full approvals in the US and the UK as well as positive CHMP opinion for venclexta’s use with BTKs for that fixed treatment course. Total Venclexta sales were $770 million, up 9.7% on an operational basis. Continued sales growth from Elihir, Epkinley and Amrellis also helped to partially offset the expected sales decline for Imbruvica which was down 24.7% due to IRA pricing and competitive share pressure. Turning now to Esthetics which delivered global sales of nearly $1.2 billion, up 5.1% on an operational basis. Botox Cosmetic total revenues were $668 million, up 17% reflecting a favorable price comparison in the US as well as modest market growth globally. Juvederm Global sales were $232 million, down 2.9% reflecting continued headwinds in key dermal filler markets. While economic headwinds have continued to impact market conditions globally, the long term prospects for the category remain attractive given high consumer interest and low penetration rates. As the industry leader, we are investing in promotion and innovation to support patient activation. I’m particularly excited about the potential for Trenabot E our fast acting short duration toxin which once approved we expect will be market expanding and complements our toxin portfolio very nicely. While Trinibat E is delayed in the U.S. we continue to anticipate approval and launches this year in key international markets including Europe, Canada and Japan. So overall I’m extremely pleased with the execution and continued strong performance across our commercial portfolio. And with that I’ll turn the call over to Rupal for comments on our R and D highlights.
Rupal Thakar (Executive Vice President, Research and Development and Chief Financial Officer)
Rupal thank you Jeff. We continue to make good progress across our pipeline. I’ll start with dermatology programs in Immunology As Jeff just mentioned, new data was presented at the recent AAD meeting highlighting Skyrizi’s strong efficacy in genital and scalp psoriasis and long term efficacy including radiographic data in psoriatic arthritis. These recent presentations add to the growing body of evidence supporting Skyrizi’s best in class profile in psoriatic diseases. Its strong durable efficacy on both skin and joint measures, favorable safety and tolerability profile and convenient quarterly maintenance dosing give us confidence that Skyrizi will continue to be the preferred first line treatment option for patients with psoriatic disease. Additionally, discussions are ongoing with the FDA regarding revised label language related to tuberculosis evaluation for Skyrizi. While TB monitoring has become fairly routine prior to initiating treatment with biologics, updated language would allow healthcare providers to use their clinical judgment. Moving to Rinvoq, the regulatory application for Alopecia areata was recently submitted to the FDA Approval decisions are anticipated later this year in Europe and Japan and in early 2027 in the US in hydradenitis supertiva. Phase 3 studies for both Rinvoq and Lutekizumab are progressing well and remain on track for 16 week top line results in the second half of this year. Turning to gastroenterology, all co primary and key secondary endpoints were met in the phase 3 affirmed study with Skyrizi subcutaneous induction in Crohn’s disease demonstrating very high levels of endoscopic response and clinical remission. While not a direct head to head comparison when matching these data against results from the Skyrizi IV induction program, the sub Q induction achieved numerically higher results across key endpoints. We are extremely pleased with the strong performance demonstrated by subcutaneous induction, especially considering that this study enrolled a very difficult to treat patient population. Two thirds of the patients received prior advanced therapy with half failing two or more therapies and a third failing Ustekinumab or a JAK inhibitor. Data in those who had not previously experienced advanced therapy were particularly noteworthy where 61% of Skyrizi patients achieved endoscopic response and 73% achieved clinical remission at week 12. This is 45 points higher than placebo on both measures. These are very impressive results which will continue to support first line use. These data reinforce Skyrizi’s Best in Class profile and provide an additional induction dosing option for patients with Crohn’s disease. Our U.S. regulatory application was recently submitted with an approval decision anticipated later this year. Sub Q induction for ulcerative colitis is also being assessed and we will be discussing options with health authorities next onto other gastro programs. An interim analysis was recently completed on our Crohn’s disease platform study in the cohort evaluating Skyrizi plus our novel anti alpha 4 beta 7 antibody ABBV3A2. The combination resulted in a higher rate of endoscopic remission at week 12 and at week 24. The rate was double that of either monotherapy arm. Endoscopic remission was achieved by approximately 42% of patients receiving the combination at week 24. These results were observed in a broad population that had severe and refractory disease which included 82% advanced treatment failures and 53% of patients failing two or more advanced treatments. Of the patients that previously received advanced therapies, 63% failed an agent with an overlapping mechanism with the combination and 20% failed a JAK inhibitor. At baseline, patients had a mean Crohn’s disease activity index of 325 and a simple endoscopic score of 14 which represents a very treatment refractory patient population. Achieving this level of endoscopic remission in this setting is a particularly meaningful achievement as this endpoint is an objective measure of mucosal healing and is associated with long term benefits including reduced rates of hospitalization, surgery and disease progression. Safety of the combination was consistent with the profiles of the monotherapies. No new signals were observed. These results demonstrate the potentially transformative level of efficacy that our novel combination can achieve. The study is expected to complete in the third quarter with presentation at a medical meeting anticipated by early next year. A phase 2B study is planned to begin this summer in patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. To evaluate Skyrizi in combination with both 3a2 and with our extended half life TL1a antibody. In parallel, we will be evaluating phase 3 acceleration options for Skyrizi 3a2 in Crohn’s disease in the Skyrizi Lutekizumab cohort. The combination did not sufficiently differentiate from monotherapy Skyrizi and will not be moving forward in the early stage immunology pipeline. We are nearing completion of a phase 1 study for an IRAC4 inhibitor ABBV848 and plan to begin a phase 2 study in rheumatoid arthritis later this year. This potent inhibitor has the potential to provide biologic like efficacy, a favorable safety profile with no boxed warnings and convenient once daily oral dosing. I will now discuss neuroscience. Top line analysis was recently completed on our phase two trial evaluating ABBV932 in bipolar depression. In the study, the overall difference observed between the drug treated and placebo groups was not statistically significant. However, in a prespecified subgroup analysis of bipolar I patients an efficacy signal was observed. The safety profile of 932 was generally similar to placebo including rates of extrapyramidal events, demonstrating the potential for a more favorable tolerability profile compared to Vralar. We are evaluating next steps to continue 9,3 2 development in bipolar I patients. Dose escalation work continues for imraclidine in both schizophrenia and elderly patients. In schizophrenia. We have cleared the 100 milligram dose and will begin evaluating 150 milligrams. Phase 2 studies in monotherapy and adjunctive schizophrenia as well as psychosis related to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lewy body dementia are planned to begin in the fourth quarter. Moving to our psychedelic acid bradysilicin, additional data from an ongoing phase two study in major depressive disorder will be available this year. Several studies are planned to begin in 2026, including a phase 3 trial for single course acute treatment in MDD, a phase 2b evaluating repeat dosing for chronic use in MDD and a proof of concept phase two in post traumatic stress disorder and in Parkinson’s disease. We remain on track for an approval decision for Tavapadone in the third quarter. Turning to our solid tumors program in oncology, TMAB A is progressing well across a broad range of tumor types. At the upcoming ASCO meeting, early stage safety and efficacy results for TMAB A in head and neck and ovarian cancers will be presented. Based on these results, we are engaging with regulators regarding ways to accelerate programs for TMAB A plus pembrolizumab in frontline head and neck cancer and TMAB A plus bevacizumab in frontline ovarian cancer. In colorectal cancer. We have made a decision to update our strategy in the third line plus setting and will now focus the pivotal program on TMAB A in combination with bevacizumab in an all comers population as opposed to pursuing monotherapy in CMET selected patients targeting all comers will allow TMAB A to reach a substantially broader population. TMAB A plus bevacizumab demonstrated improved response rates and disease control versus current standard of care regardless of C MED expression levels. Treatment with TMAB A at 2.4mg per kg/BEV achieved an objective response rate of 30% and a confirmed disease control rate of 97% compared to rates of 0% and 70% respectively for Longserve BEV. Given the expanded patient population for the ALL COMERS Phase 3 trial, we anticipate faster enrollment compared to the study in CMET selected patients. Initial data readout is expected in the second half of next year. In lung cancer, TMAB A received its first breakthrough therapy designation as a monotherapy in second line plus EGFR wild type non squamous non small cell lung cancer. We are in the process of planning a phase three trial in this setting in small cell lung cancer. A phase 3 trial for monotherapy ABBV706 recently began in relapsed refractory patients. Two phase 2 studies evaluating 706 triplet combinations in frontline patients are also planned to initiate this year. These Trials will evaluate 706 in combination with atezolizumab plus DLL3T cell engagers moving to ABBV 9609 dose escalation data in late line metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer will be presented at asco. Based on these results, we are in the process of discussing acceleration options with regulators in order to advance into phase three trials as quickly as possible. We also continue to augment our solid tumor pipeline through investments in external innovation including one with kestrel Therapeutics who recently began a phase one study to evaluate a pan KRAS inhibitor in advanced solid tumors harboring KRAS mutations. This next generation inhibitor has the potential to provide an improved efficacy and safety profile based on increased potency and specificity against the most relevant KRAS mutations while sparing H and nras isoforms. Our strategy is to combine this pan KRAS inhibitor with TMAB A in pancreatic lung and colorectal cancers in hematologic oncology. Our phase three trial evaluating monotherapy intent OMEG in third line plus multiple myeloma is tracking ahead of schedule. We anticipate a response rate readout in the third quarter with potential to also see an interim analysis on progression free survival. If this interim analysis is positive, regulatory submissions would occur later this year. Progress continues in earlier lines of therapy as well. The increasing use of anti CD38 antibodies in earlier treatment settings is driving a need for CD38 free BCMA combinations, particularly those that can provide the convenience of monthly BCMA dosing combined with an oral agent. Plans are underway for a Phase 3 study evaluating Entantmeg in combination with pomalidomide in second line plus patients, including those that were exposed or refractory to a CD38 antibody or …
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