AbbVie, Inc.
ABBV
announced that it has entered into a new collaboration agreement with Hungary-based Gedeon Richter to research, develop and commercialize novel dopamine receptor modulators for the potential treatment of neuropsychiatric indications.
Both companies will jointly finance pre-clinical and clinical R&D activities as part of this collaboration. Richter will receive an undisclosed upfront payment from AbbVie for the collaboration. Richter is eligible to receive potential developmental and commercial milestone payments. It is also eligible to receive royalties upon successful commercialization of the treatments for the given indication.
Per the terms of the deal, AbbVie will receive worldwide commercial rights to any drug developed under the collaboration, except for regions like Europe, Russia, other CIS countries and Vietnam where the drug will be marketed by Richter.
The deal expected to be completed in second-quarter 2022 is subject to customary closing conditions and clearance from regulatory authorities.
Shares of AbbVie have gained 10.1% so far this year against the
industry
’s 3.1% decline.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
This collaboration between ABBV and Richter is based on data from the preclinical studies conducted by Richter. The deal includes several novel compounds which are selected for further development.
We remind investors that AbbVie already has an existing relationship with Gedeon Richter. Both companies had previously collaborated on developing medications targeting the central nervous system (CNS) and jointly marketed Vraylar, an FDA-approved drug for schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder. Vraylar is one of the many blockbuster drugs of AbbVie. AbbVie recorded $1.7 billion from Vraylar’s U.S. sales in 2021. The drug is marketed by Richter outside the United States under the brand name Reaglia.
Like Vraylar, AbbVie has deals with many large-cap pharma companies like
J&J
JNJ
for Imbruvica and
Roche
RHHBY
for Venclexta/Venclyxto.
Both AbbVie and J&J jointly market Imbruvica in the United States. Imbruvica is approved for blood cancers, such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and certain forms of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Both ABBV and JNJ share pre-tax profits and losses from U.S. sales, equally. Outside the United States, J&J has exclusive commercial rights for the drug.
AbbVie’s haemotology drug Venclexta is jointly marketed with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group. Like Imbruvica, both ABBV and the Roche subsidiary share pre-tax profits and losses from the U.S. sales, equally. While Venclexta is marketed outside the United States solely by AbbVie, RHHBY’s Genentech receives royalties from the ex-U.S. sales of the drug.
Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider
AbbVie currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the overall healthcare sector is
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
VRTX
, which carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here
.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ earnings per share estimates for 2022 have increased from $14.33 to $14.52 in the past 30 days. Shares of VRTX have risen 7.7% year to date.
Earnings of Vertex Pharmaceuticals beat estimates in each of the last four quarters, the average being 10%.
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