Credit: Source: Author's calculation.
Source: Author's calculation.
Picking up the pace in HCV
Personally, it wouldn't surprise me if the company used the voucher to accelerate approval of its pan-genotype, once-daily, next-generation drug for hepatitis C.
The company is studying the efficacy and safety of combining the protease inhibitor ABT-493 with the NS5A inhibitor ABT-530 in phase 3 studies and in phase 2 studies, and the duo achieved a functional cure in 99% of genotype 1 patients without the co-administration of ribavirin.
AbbVie believes that the ABT-493/ABT-530 co-therapy could be used across various genotypes of HCV and that it could prove to be effective over a dosing period of as little as eight weeks. If so, then it could pose a much larger threat to market-share leader Gilead Sciences ' Sovaldi and Harvoni than its current HCV drug, Viekira Pak, which is approved for genotype 1 HCV, requires multiple doses daily for 12 weeks, and is often dosed with ribavirin.
Additional results from AbbVie's ABT-493/ABT-530 midstage studies should trickle out later this year and phase 3 results should come in 2016, but given that Gilead Sciences is already working on its own pan-genotype, next-generation approach and that Gilead Sciences expects to announce phase 3 data from its studies shortly, pressure to get ABT-493/ABT-530 to market quickly will be high.
Looking ahead
Because millions of patients remain untreated and therapies are expensive, the market for hepatitis C treatment has become incredibly lucrative. In the second quarter, Gilead Sciences reports total HCV drug sales that are running at an annualized clip of nearly $20 billion and AbbVie's Viekira Pak posted $385 million in sales, leading to AbbVie reiterating its expectations to exit 2015 with annualized Viekira Pak sales of $3 billion. Given the amount of money at stake, a $350 million investment for a voucher that can reduce approval time by four months could end up proving to be a very good investment.
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The article Did AbbVie Just Make an Incredibly Brilliant Decision? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Todd Campbell owns shares of Gilead Sciences. Todd owns E.B. Capital Markets, LLC. E.B. Capital's clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. he Motley Fool recommends Gilead Sciences. The Motley Fool owns shares of Gilead Sciences. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days . We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .
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