Can AbbVie take a bite out of Vertex's cystic fibrosis dominance? Not right now
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When it comes to cystic fibrosis (NYSE:CF) drugs, the leader, by a mile, is Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX
-3.5%), which has a 97% market share.
Revenue for its CF franchise in 2021 was ~$7.6B, a 22% increase from the prior year. With sales of $5.7B last year, Trikafta (elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor and ivacaftor) was the company's best selling product by far.
Despite its dominance in the CF market, another big biotech player is attempting to get a piece of the pie: AbbVie (ABBV
+1.4%).
AbbVie is current testing a combination product of one potentiator and two corrector molecules targeting the cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator. The experimental medicine targets CFTR-C1, CFTR-C2, CFTR-P.
AbbVie is expected to soon release phase 2 data regarding its CF product and the results will likely impact the stock price of both companies.
Whether AbbVie can make a run at Vertex's CF franchise remains to be seen, but during AbbVie's quarterly earnings call yesterday, management took a measured view on the outlook for its potential CF product.
"We've always said that it represents significant upside if it were to hit, but it's an early program," management said.
RBC Capital Markets' Brian Abrahams took AbbVie's comments as a sign that the company doesn't pose much of a competitive threat to Vertex's CF franchise as the bar is set very high.
Following yesterday's earnings, Piper Sandler reiterated AbbVie as its top biotech large cap pick with a price target of $160 (~15% upside based on yesterday's close).
Check out why Vertex's pipeline is more than just CF treatments, according to Seeking Alpha contributor ONeil Trader.