AbbVie acquisition of Pharmacyclics will help secure future cash flows as Humira biosimilars loom, says analyst

US drugmaker AbbVie’s (NYSE: ABBV) acquisition of Pharmacyclics (Nasdaq; PCYC), valued at $21 billion, will help the company alleviate its dependency on Humira (adalimumab), which accounted for 62% of its total revenues in 2014, up from 57% in 2013, noted Joshua Owide, GlobalData’s director of health care industry dynamics.

This is a major step for AbbVie following the terminated Shire deal, as the rest of AbbVie’s business is faltering. The company’s pharmaceutical revenues, excluding Humira, shrank by $467 million last year, he said.

“To compound this, the threat of Humira biosimilars is looming ever nearer, with Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Pfizer, Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics, Sandoz and Samsung all in late-stage clinical development with their respective adalimumab biosimilars. These are expected to have a major impact on Humira sales following its anticipated 2018 US patent expiration,” Mr Owide opined.