Under the impact of numerous generic drugs, AbbVie's "former drug king" Humira still maintains a distant lead in market share.

Biological biosimilar manufacturer Samsung Bioepis stated in a new report released on Thursday that the market share of the best-selling arthritis therapy Humira, owned by the American pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, still maintains at over 70%. This blockbuster drug has been facing the threat of biosimilars in the United States for over two years, but AbbVie's exclusive brand still holds a very high market share. This anti-inflammatory injectable, also known as adalimumab, has brought AbbVie billions of dollars in sales since it was first approved by the FDA in 2002, and Humira was a blockbuster arthritis drug that drove the company's performance for over 15 years. However, in early 2023, the drug lost its exclusive sales proprietary rights in the US market. Although the market share of Humira has declined, it still maintains dominance Humira, developed by AbbVie, Inc., has been ranked at the top of global drug sales for many years since its launch, with annual sales exceeding $18 billion and once being hailed as the "king of drugs" in the biologic industry. Its active ingredient is adalimumab, a fully humanized monoclonal antibody that specifically binds and inhibits tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-), thereby reducing inflammation mediated by TNF-. Humira is widely used to treat various autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis. After accounting for over a third of AbbVie's overall revenue scale in 2022, the contribution of Humira to the company's total revenue scale plummeted to around 27% in 2023 as biosimilars from Amgen, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Limited, and Pfizer Inc. entered the global biologics market. Although AbbVie's Humira still maintains its dominant position with a 96% market share as of February 2024, the market leadership of Humira was threatened in May 2024 with a market share dropping to 77%, but it still holds the absolute dominance in the adalimumab market. According to the latest statistics from Samsung Bioepis, as of November, although the market share of biosimilars related to Humira has increased from 2% a year ago to 23%, AbbVie brand's adalimumab drug still holds 72% market share in the US market, maintaining AbbVie's "dominance" title. The South Korean biopharmaceutical giant also added that Hyrimoz and Hadlima (both launched by CVS Health/Sandoz) and the biosimilars of Humira launched by Organon/Samsung Bioepis contribute the majority of the Humira biosimilars market share. Meanwhile, Samsung Bioepis stated that the market shares of other well-known adalimumab manufacturers, or rather Humira biosimilar brand, such as Amgen, Teva/Alvotech, and Pfizer Inc., are at 3% or below. AbbVie starts looking for "new momentum" AbbVie has long been seeking new drivers of performance growth to fill the void left by Humira after losing patent protection in 2023. AbbVie executives are concerned that cheaper biosimilars on the market will start eating into adalimumab sales. Recent new biologic drugs launched by the company, such as Skyrizi and Rinvoq, have been helping counteract the decline in sales and push the company's sales growth into an upward trajectory. Some recent high-profile transactions in the oncology and neuroscience fields are expected to further supplement the company's channel for new treatment products. Both Skyrizi and Rinvoq are considered important successors to AbbVie, Inc.'s flagship product Humira after its patent expiration. Skyrizi is a new biologic developed by AbbVie for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults, active psoriatic arthritis, and moderate to severe Crohn's disease. Skyrizi completely inhibits the inflammatory processes by selectively blocking a subunit (p19) of interleukin-23 (IL-23). Rinvoq is a new oral medication and a JAK inhibitor used to treat various inflammatory diseases, including moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis, active psoriatic arthritis, moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis, and moderate to severe Crohn's disease. Rinvoq primarily reduces inflammation by inhibiting the activity of Janus kinase (JAK).