After the State of California has filed a lawsuit against AbbVie, accusing the company of paying kickbacks to doctors and using a network of nurses to illegally boost Humira prescriptions, Credit Suisse analyst Vamil Divan said he is "not surprised" by the stock's weakness given how leveraged it is to Humira sales and profit, and think there could be additional weakness as the story develops, especially if other states file similar lawsuits against the company. Additionally, he wonders how lawsuits like this may impact marketing practices across the industry. Divan maintains a cautious view on the stock with an Underperform rating and $85 price target, and says he continues to have concerns about the sustainability of Humira given the expected entry of multiple biosimilars in the EU next month expected biosimilar pressure in the U.S. starting in 2023.

AbbVie announced positive top-line results from SELECT-GCA, a Phase 3, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, showing upadacitinib in combination with a 26-week steroid taper regimen achieved its primary endpoint of sustained remissiona from week 12 through week 52 in adults with giant cell arteritis. In this study, 46% of patients receiving upadacitinib 15 mg in combination with a 26-week steroid taper regimen achieved sustained remission compared to 29 percent of patients receiving placebo in combination with a 52-week steroid taper regimen. Key secondary endpoints were also met, including a higher percentage of patients receiving upadacitinib 15 mg in combination with a 26-week steroid taper regimen achieved sustained complete remissionb from week 12 through week 52 compared to patients receiving placebo in combination with a 52-week steroid taper regimen. A lower percentage of patients experienced at least one disease flare through week 52 in the upadacitinib 15 mg group versus the placebo group. The study results also showed that upadacitinib 7.5 mg did not meet the primary or any of the secondary endpoints.