US Oversight Committee to subpoena AbbVie over drug pricing issues

Shares of US drugmaker AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) closed down 3.4% at $92.24 yesterday, after it was revealed that US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chairwoman Carolyn Maloney intends to subpoena AbbVie for documents related to the committee's investigation into how big-name drugmakers price some of the world's best-selling drugs.

AbbVie sells Humira (adalimumab), the best-selling drug in the world with net revenues of more than $19.2 billion in 2019, to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases. The company also sells Imbruvica (ibrutinib), which treats mantle cell lymphoma and generated net revenues of more than $4.6 billion last year.

Over the course of the Committee’s investigation, Ms Maloney alleged in a memorandum to committee members, AbbVie repeatedly failed to comply with the Committee’s requests and provided inadequate responses regarding Humira and Imbruvica. AbbVie has produced only limited documents about its pricing practices and strategies to preserve market share and pricing power for both products. In her memo, she also said that as most of the drug companies involved in the investigation "have cooperated" with the Committee, AbbVie's non-compliance stands out as particularly egregious."