AbbVie\u2019s long-term growth strategy finally shapes up with the acquisition of Allergan. The acquisition gives an immediate scale and profitability to AbbVie\u2019s growth, bringing new therapeutic segments which include Allergan\u2019s leading medical aesthetic business. AbbVie\u2019s strategic portfolio diversification was widely anticipated to minimize its overt dependence on Humira. AbbVie now obtains commercialization rights to Botox, a major aesthetic brand with lower biosimilar erosion risk. The acquisition will pay-off Allergan & AbbVie shareholders with enhanced value and provides an opportunity for new and additional investment in R&D, with immediate and significant accretion on attractive return on capital invested, and debt reduction. This will further strengthen AbbVie\u2019s long-term R&D funding capacity and focus on innovative science and advancement of an industry-leading pipeline. The acquisition also provides AbbVie an opportunity to enhance its global commercial presence by maximizing the value of Allergan\u2019s attractive portfolio of fast-growing products in therapeutic areas like medical aesthetics, eye care, CNS, and gastrointestinal disorders.<\/p>\n
Allergan\u2019s blockbuster products such as Botox and Vraylar will see a major impetus driven by AbbVie\u2019s commercial strength, marketing prowess, and further international infrastructure. The acquisition opens the door to new opportunities for AbbVie.<\/p>\n
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With the acquisition, AbbVie will add established brands to in its small and mature CNS franchise and gain a strong foothold in the ophthalmology space. Despite AbbVie\u2019s CEO, Richard Gonzalez, declaring the acquisition was less focused on Allergan\u2019s pipeline, Allergan has a range of late-phase assets with moderate revenue potential in the near- and mid-term, helping to offset the loss of Humira revenue.<\/p>\n
CNS is one of AbbVie\u2019s smallest therapeutic areas and includes mature products such as Depakote and Luvox, and the newer, but niche, Parkinson\u2019s disease (PD) product, Duodopa. Moreover, its CNS pipeline is still in early stage and high risk, but innovative, focusing on novel disease-modifying therapies in neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer\u2019s disease (AD), PD, multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injury (SCI), and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). The Allergan CNS portfolio, with marketed therapies (i.e., Vraylar, Saphris, Viibryd, Fetzima, Namzaric, Botox), also promises near-term launches, that partially derisk AbbVie\u2019s neurology portfolio.<\/p>\n
Though AbbVie\u2019s presence in ophthalmology is minor (Humira is approved for non-infectious uveitis of the posterior segment), AbbVie has no pipeline assets in this area. In contrast, Allergan is well established in ophthalmology with multiple current and late-stage therapies that could provide a stable revenue stream in the near-term.<\/p>\n
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Vraylar, Viibryd, Saphris, and potentially the late-phase antidepressant rapastinel, re-establish AbbVie\u2019s limited foothold in psychiatry which comprises Depakote (bipolar disorder) and Luvox (major depressive disorder [MDD]). Vraylar and rapastinel target underserved populations in these indications. Vraylar is approved to treat schizophrenia and manic or mixed episodes in bipolar disorder, and an expanded approval from the FDA in May 2019 for the treatment of bipolar depression provides the antipsychotic with the broadest label among therapies prescribed for bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n
In depression, Allergan continues to analyze data from late-phase studies of rapastinel after the drug failed three Phase III trials in MDD. As an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-targeting antidepressant promising rapid symptom improvement in treatment-resistant depression (TRD) patients, rapastinel offers a distinct mechanism of action and a mild side effect profile, notable advantages compared with current standards of care. Whether AbbVie\u2019s acquisition of Allergan alters the prospects for rapastinel remains to be seen. Coupled with this uncertainty is external competition in this space. Janssen has a significant head start over Allergan with its own intranasal NMDA receptor-targeting antidepressant, Spravato, launched for TRD in the United States in March.<\/p>\n
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Allergan is a leader in migraine, with Botox approved for chronic migraine prevention. Adding to this are two oral calcitonin-gene related peptide (CGRP) receptor antagonists in late-phase development: ubrogepant, currently under FDA review for the acute treatment of migraine, and atogepant, in Phase III development for migraine prophylaxis. These agents will capitalize on the present buzz around CGRP as an effective target in migraine, following the launch of three subcutaneous anti-CGRP MAbs in 2018 from Novartis\/Amgen, Lilly, and Teva. Atogepant and ubrogepant\u2019s oral formulation will provide convenient acute and preventive alternatives for potentially millions of migraineurs. Allergan\u2019s migraine portfolio, which DRG has forecast to be worth upwards of $2.5 billion in the United States by 2027, could now be a key contributor in AbbVie\u2019s future growth.<\/p>\n
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AbbVie is developing elezanumab (ABT-555), a novel RGMa-targeting MAb with neuroprotective potential, as an adjunctive treatment in relapsing and progressive MS and SCI. Botox\u2019s approval for MS spasticity provides inroads to MS specialists. Allergan also markets Namzaric for AD, providing AbbVie with sales force experience and institutional knowledge ahead of a potential launch of AbbVie\u2019s investigational anti-tau antibody ABBV-8E12 (Phase II; also in development for PSP).<\/p>\n
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Besides marketing ophthalmology brands across the globe, Allergan has multiple early-to-late-phase assets in several indications, including glaucoma, wet AMD, dry eye disease, and presbyopia. This therapeutic area will contribute stable revenue for AbbVie going forward, as it has for Allergan in recent years. However, with the expected loss of exclusivity for Restasis in the United States in 2019, the future of the ophthalmology portfolio will hinge on the success of key emerging therapies, including abicipar pegol in wet AMD and bimatoprost SR in glaucoma, both of which are expected to launch in the United States in 2020.<\/p>\n
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Allergan\u2019s assets buy time for AbbVie\u2019s neurology pipeline <\/strong><\/p>\n Allergan\u2019s psychiatry, migraine, and ophthalmology assets will infuse revenue into AbbVie\u2019s bottom line in the near-to-mid-term, if AbbVie can successfully commercialize Allergan\u2019s late-phase pipeline products. This revenue will partially offset AbbVie\u2019s losses due to Humira biosimilars and will help finance AbbVie\u2019s potentially transformative, but highly risky neurology R&D candidates including its alpha-synuclein MAb for PD (ABBV-0805, Phase I), ABBV-8E12, and elezanumab. Should any of these MAbs launch, they would be met with tremendous commercial success given the significant unmet need and high prevalence in these indications, and would be bolstered by AbbVie\u2019s and Allergan\u2019s proven lifecycle management expertise with Humira and Botox, respectively. Another \u201cHumira\u201d might well emerge if AbbVie commits to Allergan\u2019s pipeline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Have allergan\u2019s CNS and ophthalmology franchises been underestimated? AbbVie\u2019s long-term growth strategy finally shapes up with the acquisition of Allergan. The acquisition gives an immediate scale and profitability to AbbVie\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_type":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,21],"tags":[124],"class_list":["post-87056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biopharma","category-life-sciences-healthcare","tag-healthcare-dealmaking","clarivate-product-biopharma"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":87056},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"pll_sync_post":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87056\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clarivate.com\/life-sciences-healthcare\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}