Thought I'd just throw some interesting things up about AbbVie as we wait for the deal to be finalised, hopefully soon, and look at the one main drug we all know they have which is Humira, which would be great to land as it earns over US$13bln per annum. Their pipeline in the autoimmune disease area looks quite promising also:
Firstly what are AbbVie doing by way of jobs that might be of interest?
April 27, 2015:
QA Program Manager- Data warehouse in Ballytivnan Ireland
Description:
Manage multi-site data collection and reporting system implementation.
• Ensure successful implementation of new auto-injector projects; deliver intended capabilities on time and within budget.
We know that the US Humira patent expires in late 2016 and that AbbVie will be doing all they can to try and protect these huge sales so the housing of Humira in our Finesse syringes and the use of the Lisa auto-injector, where applicable, seems like it would be the perfect fit to make things harder for the generic competition as Alan addresses in the following article:
But on top of the obvious benefits to differentiating your drug with the delivery system that nobody else can use they are also looking at reformulating Humira as part of their strategy, the following article mentions an auto-injector that minimises pain and we know that the Lisa is customised to deliver a drug at an optimal rate minimising pain:
March 05, 2015:
AbbVie said it has also sought U.S. and European marketing approvals for an improved formulation that could battle cheaper biosimilar forms of Humira.
"It's a fundamental change in the formulation of Humira," Gonzalez said in an interview. "I wouldn't describe it as a tweak." Asked if AbbVie intends to switch over current Humira patients to the new formulation, Gonzalez said such a strategy would make sense.
Citigroup analyst Andrew Baum wrote in a research note that the new version of Humira would likely have an auto-injector that would cause less pain than regular needles and might not need refrigeration. Such improvements, he said, could lead 20 percent of current Humira patients to switch to the new product.
