AbbVie 2014 Annual Report Download - page 3

13NOV201221365766
Dear AbbVie Shareholder:
When AbbVie launched as a new company in January of 2013, our stated goal was to
create an innovation driven, patient-focused biopharmaceutical company capable of
delivering sustainable top-tier performance by creating a consistent stream of innovative
new medicines that advance standard of care for patients.
In our first two years, we have made significant progress against that mission. We
have advanced our culture to be faster, more agile, with a strong focus on innovative
science and patient insight; refined our therapeutic focus to invest in areas where we
have deep knowledge of the science and biology; built a robust pipeline of potential new
medicines; and supplemented the strong talent we have from our legacy company Abbott
with new talent from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Over that two-year period,
we have delivered strong growth from our promoted, on-market portfolio, including
market-leading growth from Humira. We have worked to improve our operational
efficiency including improvement in our gross margin profile. We maintained our strong
commitment to returning cash to our shareholders through our strong and growing
dividend. And, we delivered industry-leading total shareholder return of over 105%.
Quite simply, AbbVie is not the same company we were just two years ago. Today we
have major leading franchises in immunology, virology and a strong emerging franchise in
oncology. Our late-stage pipeline has progressed well with strong pivotal data on several
important assets such as Zinbryta, Elagolix and Venetoclax.
2014 was an exceptional year for AbbVie. We delivered top-tier financial performance
as well as advanced our overall strategic imperatives for our business. Our sales and
earnings exceeded original projections during the year, our leading brands delivered
outstanding performance, and we delivered results that exceeded our financial guidance.
In addition to delivering both strong revenue and profit growth, we continued to
provide excellent capital returns to our shareholders through increasing our cash dividend
by nearly 17 percent, and implementing a $5 billion stock repurchase program.
Humira, our flagship treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune
conditions, continued to perform exceptionally well with product sales increasing by
nearly 19%, to $12.5 billion for the year. Our other leading brands Duodopa (Parkinson’s
disease), Creon (pancreatitis), Synagis (lung disease), and Synthroid (hypothyroidism) also
turned in double-digit performance. In December, we strengthened our product portfolio
with the first launch of Viekira, our novel hepatitis C therapy that represents a significant
advancement in the treatment of this disease.
We made significant progress in advancing our pipeline, which is the strongest in our
history. AbbVie has more than 40 programs in clinical development, with 30 of those in
Phase 2 or later. We have 10 ongoing or recently initiated potential registration programs
in oncology; completed late-stage clinical trials in virology, neuroscience and immunology;