AbbVie pulled in $15 billion in Q1 revenue, beating consensus estimates and raising its full-year guidance. Then it killed a cancer drug.
The immunology portfolio, anchored by Skyrizi and Rinvoq, drove $7.29 billion of that total, a 16.4% year-over-year jump. Overall revenues beat Q1 2025 by 12.4%. AbbVie raised its adjusted diluted EPS guidance for 2026 from $13.96–$14.16 to $14.08–$14.28.
The discontinuation of BTK degrader ABBV-101 was the day’s jarring note. The compound was in a phase 1 trial of 135 patients with relapsed or refractory non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas. AbbVie said the cut “is not an outcome of M23-647 clinical trial results,” but offered no further explanation. The trial wasn’t expected to read out until 2031.
Beyond immunology, the neuroscience portfolio grew 26% to $2.87 billion. Qulipta, the once-daily oral migraine treatment, reached $296 million, up 53.6% on a reported basis.
AbbVie’s dealmaking is filling the pipeline gap. In January, the company licensed RemeGen’s PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody for $650 million upfront, plus up to $4.95 billion in milestones — ex-China rights that put AbbVie in a race against Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck and Pfizer. This week, a deal with Kestrel Therapeutics for an oral pan-KRAS inhibitor adds another oncology bet, worth up to $1.45 billion. Together, these deals cost AbbVie $0.41 per share in IPR&D charges through Q1.
CEO Robert Michael said AbbVie doesn’t need BD to deliver top-tier growth this decade, but is “very willing to pursue” differentiated assets in immunology, neuroscience, oncology and obesity. The company’s regulatory submission for a subcutaneous Skyrizi induction regimen in Crohn’s disease landed this week.
— Sarah Chen