AbbVie Inc

Performance in the 2024 Index

20th place. AbbVie performs in the lower ranks of all three Technical Areas. The company does not have an access planning framework during Research & Development, nor does it have access plans for any of its late-stage pipeline candidates. However, as assessed in Product Delivery, it is newly engaged in supply chain capacity building. 

Opportunities for AbbVie

Develop a structured access planning framework and ensure all late-stage R&D projects have comprehensive access plans. AbbVie can develop a formal access planning framework and accordingly apply access plans that consider availability, affordability and sustainable supply for all its projects, no later than Phase II. For example, it can disclose access plans for ABBV-552, an investigational treatment for Alzheimer's disease. 

Disclose process for measuring patient reach. AbbVie did not provide evidence of a patient reach process. The company can work to publicly share the details of its patient reach process, including the underlying equation, metrics, assumptions and limitations. AbbVie can also improve transparency by regularly publishing patient reach figures and disclosing the outcomes of its product-specific access strategies. 

Share company-specific access-to-medicine targets, goals and objectives. AbbVie has commitments for access to medicine that align with the goals of other organisations, such as the World Health Organization. In addition to this, the company can also work to implement and report on access-to-medicine goals that are specific to commitments it would like to achieve as a company. 

Changes since the 2022 Index

• Appointed Robert Michael as new CEO in 2024. 

• Completed acquisition of ImmunoGen in February 2024, adding a product targeting ovarian cancer to AbbVie’s portfolio and expanding its oncology pipeline. 

• Completed acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics in August 2024. Cerevel's clinical-stage assets include a next generation anti-psychotic for schizophrenia. 

• Launched new initiative aimed at expanding patient access to its eyecare products from 9 to 45 African countries. 

Sales and operations

Therapeutic areas: Aesthetics, eyecare, immunology, neuroscience, oncology, other specialty areas 

Product categories: Pharmaceuticals 

M&A news: AbbVie acquired DJS Antibodies for USD 255mn and Mitokinin for USD 110mn in 2022 and 2023, respectively. In 2024, it acquired ImmunoGen for USD 10.1bn and Landos Biopharma, Inc. for USD 137.5mn respectively. 

Sample of pipeline and portfolio assessed by the Index

PIPELINE for diseases in scope

AbbVie has 27 R&D projects in scope, 5 of which target priority diseases, including HIV/AIDS (2), TB (1) and COVID-19 (1). The remaining 22 projects target other diseases in scope, including cancer (14), Alzheimer's disease (3) and migraine (2). Of the 27 R&D projects, 10 are in late-stage development, with evidence of access planning for 0% (0/10) of these.

PORTFOLIO as selected for analysis by the Index

AbbVie has 17 products in scope, 14 of which are on patent and 5 of which are listed on the WHO EML. Most of its medicines are on patent (13) and mostly target non-communicable diseases, such as cancer (4) and migraine (2). It has several maternal and neonatal health products in scope, including contraceptives (1) and a product targeting pre-term birth complications (1). It also has medicines targeting communicable diseases, such as HIV (2) and hepatitis C (2). 

Performance breakdown

Governance of Access

RANK 20th, SCORE 2.52 

AbbVie performs poorly in this Technical Area. The company has a comprehensive access-to-medicine strategy integrated within its overall corporate strategy, as well as direct board-level responsibility for access but it does not disclose sufficient evidence of having a robust set of controls to mitigate the risk of non-compliant or corrupt activities in countries in scope. Further, AbbVie does not publicly express any support for the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. The company did not share any processes for measuring patient reach.   

The highest responsibility for access lies directly with the Board, with its Public Policy and Sustainability Committee responsible for corporate responsibility aspects, including access. AbbVie has access-related incentives for senior executives under its key material driver of Patient Affordability and Accessibility within its ESG framework. 

Comprehensive access-to-medicine strategy integrated within the overall corporate strategy. Its ‘Global Integrated Access Strategy’ covers all therapeutic areas in which the company is involved. AbbVie publicly discloses its commitments to access to medicine, but the reported goals, objectives and targets are linked to external global health targets and are not company specific. Reporting is mostly clear, centrally available and updated regularly in its ESG Action Report. 

Shows comparatively strong commitment to responsible business practices. AbbVie’s sales agents are not solely incentivised by sales volume. Further, AbbVie commits to ensuring ethical interactions with healthcare professionals in its code of conduct and sets limits on transfers of value to healthcare professionals (e.g., payments for attending events or promotional activities). However, it only publicly discloses information on such payments in countries in scope if required by law or local regulation.  

Has a set of controls to promote ethical conduct and mitigate risk to ensure that governance efforts are not undermined by non-compliant or corrupt activities. AbbVie performs moderately in this respect. It has policies to mitigate non-compliance risks, including processes to ensure third-party compliance with company standards.  It does not disclose to the Index whether there is fraud-specific risk assessment done in countries in scope of the Index. AbbVie does not disclose sufficient evidence publicly, or to the Index, of country risk-based assessments in countries in scope. It has an ethical decision-making framework for employees. No breaches in countries in scope were found in the period of analysis. 

AbbVie does not publicly share any support for the Doha Declaration on TRIPS and Public Health. It has a publicly available policy on ‘Intellectual Property and Patient Access’, but it does not align with principles embodied in the Declaration. 

 AbbVie did not share any processes for measuring and reporting patient reach. 

Research and Development

RANK 20th, SCORE 0.91 

AbbVie performs poorly in this Technical Area. It has a small-sized priority pipeline compared to its peers and its performance across R&D has stayed the same. It is one of the few companies that does not have a framework in place for systematic access planning and does not have access plans for any of its late-stage pipeline candidates. Furthermore, it does not publicly disclose disaggregated R&D investment data, nor does it engage in R&D capacity building activities.   

No structured process in place to develop access plans during R&D. The company does not make public commitments addressing its systematic approach to access planning for LMICs. 

Small-sized priority R&D pipeline compared to peers, without any late-stage candidates. Priority R&D pipeline of 5 projects, none of which are late stage targeting a priority gap. The company focuses on various priority areas, including HIV/AIDS, TB and COVID-19. 

Average-sized pipeline, compared to peers, addressing other diseases in scope, with none of its late-stage projects (0/10) covered by access plans. The company has 10 late-stage R&D projects targeting other diseases in scope that have not been established as a priority by global health stakeholders. The projects mainly target cancer, Alzheimer's disease and migraine. AbbVie does not provide evidence of access plans for any of the 10 late-stage projects. 

AbbVie does not publicly disclose R&D investment data disaggregated by disease category, product type or phase of development. However, it does disclose anonymised disaggregated R&D investment data to Impact Global Health (formerly Policy Cures Research). 

No evidence of R&D capacity building initiatives that meet inclusion criteria. 

Product Delivery

RANK 19th, SCORE 1.75 

AbbVie performs poorly in this Technical Area. The company shows no evidence of manufacturing capacity building initiatives but is newly engaged in supply chain capacity building. The company also shows limited evidence of access strategies for its products, with no data on the outcomes of these strategies. However, AbbVie engages in supranational procurement agreements and non-exclusive voluntary licensing for two compounds.   

AbbVie registers products in 5 countries in scope on average. There is no evidence of registering newer products* in any countries in scope. Of the products assessed, there is no evidence of registration in any low-income countries and 25% are registered in at least 1 of the 10 countries with the highest disease burden. The company’s ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir/dasabuvir (Viekira®), indicated for hepatitis C, is most widely registered, totalling 13 countries in scope. AbbVie reports engaging in mechanisms to facilitate registration, for example, the European Medicines Agency EU-M4all (former Article 58).  

_{*Products that received their first marketing authorisation within the last 5 years.} 

Supplies 2 products through supranational agreements. The 2 products assessed under this category, lopinavir/ritonavir (Aluvia®/Kaletra®) and ritonavir (Norvir®), are both HIV treatments and are supplied through The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Global Fund). The company has strategies to make the products available in at least one country not eligible for supply via the Global Fund and agreed non-exclusive voluntary licences with the Medicines Patent Pool for both products. Further, AbbVie engages in health system strengthening initiatives to support HIV care. For both products, outcomes data has not been disclosed.  

Has access strategies for only one healthcare practitioner (HCP)-administered product, does not report outcomes. AbbVie has not disclosed, either publicly or to the Index, any new data on access strategies for its 2 HCP-administered products selected for analysis under this category. The company has strategies for 1 product, beractant (Survanta®), indicated for respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature neonates. AbbVie applies a cost-plus pricing strategy for the product in Uganda (LIC) and has provided this product via donation to AmeriCares, which supplies in different countries in scope. No data on the strategies’ outcomes has been reported. 

Limited access strategies for its self-administered products, does not report outcomes. AbbVie has not disclosed, either publicly or to the Index, any new data on access strategies for its self- administered products. The company has a non-exclusive voluntary licence with the Medicines Patent Pool for glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (Mavyret®), which covers 10 UMICs, 42 LMICs and 24 LICs. No data related to the strategies’ outcomes has been reported. 

AbbVie has no public commitment to not file for or enforce patents in any countries in scope. 

Publicly discloses product patent status for countries in scope. Like most peers, AbbVie publicly discloses patent information for small molecules in scope via the Pat-INFORMED database, including information such as filing date, grant number, grant date and jurisdiction. 

AbbVie has 3 non-exclusive voluntary licensing agreements to enable generic supply. One of the licences is for glecaprevir/pibrentasvir, indicated for hepatitis C, and includes 79 countries in scope. The other licences are for the compounds lopinavir/ritonavir, indicated for HIV, for both adult and paediatric use. The adult licence was issued in 2015 and covers 107 countries in scope; the paediatric licence was issued in 2014 and covers 93 countries in scope. The terms for all 3 licences are publicly available. 

No evidence of manufacturing capacity building initiatives that meet inclusion criteria.  

One supply chain capacity building initiative was included for analysis, but it does not meet all Good Practice Standards (GPS). In this initiative, AbbVie developed a distributor training programme in South Africa aimed at improving demand and supply management. 

One of four health system strengthening initiatives included for analysis meets all GPS. In this initiative, The AbbVie Foundation supports Baylor College of Medicine International Pediatric AIDS Initiative in providing HIV treatment, prevention, testing and psychosocial support in 7 countries, including 6 in scope: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda. The aim of the initiative is to reduce mortality and increase treatment adherence. 

AbbVie remains engaged in existing IP-sharing agreements with drug discovery initiatives to accelerate drug development. The company shares IP assets through the Corona Accelerated R&D in Europe which aims to deliver new coronaviral products. However, AbbVie has not made new agreements during the period of analysis. 

Fulfils all criteria for ad hoc donations. AbbVie has public policies and supply processes to carry out ad hoc donations rapidly in response to expressed need, with delivery monitored to ensure donations reach patients. Additionally, the company publicly commits to adhering to the most recent WHO Guidelines for Medicine Donations.  

Fulfils most criteria for mechanisms to ensure continuous supply in LMICs. For example, AbbVie's local affiliate in South Africa works with local stakeholders to ensure supply of HIV treatment lopinavir/ritonavir (Aluvia®). When a supply issue or delay is detected through regular reports, AbbVie's central planning team works with distributors, government agencies and hospitals to assess the delay, inventory levels, and to ensure coverage.  

AbbVie has procedures in place for reporting substandard and falsified medicines in countries in scope. It provides evidence of reporting cases to national or local regulatory authorities and WHO. However, the company does not disclose evidence, publicly or to the Index, that it requires reporting to occur within 10 days, nor does it provide evidence of shortened timeframes for reporting cases that only require visual inspection for confirmation. 

AbbVie operates an inclusive business model that offers 2 products in 52 countries in scope. Launched in 2013, the Access to Care programme offers HIV treatments lopinavir/ritonavir (Aluvia®/Kaletra®) and ritonavir (Norvir®) at reduced prices in countries like Lesotho and Nigeria. The model also includes training of healthcare professionals to help address treatment capacity.