AbbVie (ABBV, Financial) entered into a strategically important collaboration with BioArctic, a privately held Swedish research-based biopharmaceutical company founded in 2003, to develop and commercialize BioArctic’s portfolio of antibodies directed against alpha-synuclein for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease and other potential indications.
“Our new partner AbbVie has shown a strong commitment to Parkinson’s disease and I am proud that they have chosen to collaborate with BioArctic. I am looking forward to a successful partnership that hopefully will result in a new, innovative disease modifying treatment becoming available to the large number of patients suffering from Parkinson’s disease,” said Gunilla Osswald, CEO at BioArctic.
In Parkinson's disease, certain nerve cells (neurons) in the brain gradually break down or die. Although it's not clear why these changes in the brain occur, researchers believe that the presence of Lewy bodies hold an important clue to the cause of Parkinson's disease and one of the many substances that are found within them: a protein called alpha-synuclein (A-synuclein). This protein is currently an important focus among researchers because it is believed that its mutations are strongly linked to the development of Parkinson’s disease. Soluble aggregates of the alpha-synuclein protein are toxic to neurons and lead to the deposits that are a hallmark of the disease.
Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease and affects approximately seven million people globally and one million people in the United States.
The cause is unknown, and although there is presently no cure, there are treatment options such as medication and surgery to manage its symptoms. AbbVie's levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel is the treatment of advanced Parkinson's disease and is marketed as Duopa in the United States. Duopa is administered using a small, portable infusion pump that delivers carbidopa and levodopa directly into the small intestine for 16 continuous hours via a procedurally-placed tube. This product is sold under the name Duodopa outside the United States.
AbbVie's regulatory submission for Duopa in the United States was approved by the FDA in January 2015.
Net revenues for Duodopa, AbbVie's therapy for advanced Parkinson's disease approved in Europe and other international markets, grew 23% in 2015 and represented about 1% of total net sales of $22,859.
Net revenues for Duopa in the United States are expected by the company to gradually increase during 2016 as the product gains acceptance in the marketplace.
AbbVie declared its quarterly dividend of 57 cents per share on Sept. 19. The cash dividend is payable Nov. 15 to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct. 14.
AbbVie is a member of the S&P 500.
AbbVie is trading around $63.43 per share on the New York Stock Exchange and outperformed with 2.13% the S&P 500, YTD.
The company has a market capitalization of $102.79 billion. As of the second quarter, cash and short-term investments amounted to $8 billion, and total long-term debt amounted to $37.3 billion. Cash flow from operating activities was about $7.5 billion in 2015, a 114.3% increase from the previous fiscal year.
AbbVie Inc. is a pharmaceutical company that develops and markets therapies that address a range of diseases. It originated in 2013 as a spinoff of Abbott Laboratories (ABT, Financial). Approximately 61% of AbbVie's total net revenues in 2015 came from the sale of Humira, which is the company's largest product and the trade name under which adalimumab is marketed. A medication used for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, plaque psoriasis, hidradenitis suppurativa, uveitis and pediatric enthesitis-related arthritis (used in the European Union only).
Disclosure: I have no positions in AbbVie Inc.
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