Safety issue dismissed as AbbVie seeks to build new blockbuster

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) will eventually have to find a way of replacing the revenue it earns from Humira (adalimumab), with biosimilars to the world's top-selling drug set to enter the US market in 2023.

One drug that is emerging as a candidate to replace some of the lost revenue for the US drugmaker is its own upadacitinib, and AbbVie presented the latest strong data set on the investigational oral JAK1-selective inhibitor on Wednesday.

It brought positive results in the Phase III SELECT-MONOTHERAPY study in rheumatoid arthritis patients who did not adequately respond to methotrexate. Both doses (15mg and 30mg once-daily) of upadacitinib met the primary endpoint of achieving a recognized measure in disease improvement and low disease activity versus continuing prior stable methotrexate therapy.