AbbVie and Gilead are going back to their roots and leaning on their established areas of expertise to set themselves up for sustainable success in 2025.
With explosive deals out of the way, news from the third day of the 2025 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference slowed down quite a bit. Still, Conference saw even more pharma powerhouses lay out their business strategies for 2025 and beyond.
AbbVie Leans on I&I in Aftermath of Schizophrenia Stumble
Despite the stunning mid-stage failure of its antipsychotic drug candidate emraclidine in schizophrenia, AbbVie at an investor conference on Wednesday doubled down on its goal of hitting mid-single-digit topline and earnings-per-share growth in 2025, according to a note from Guggenheim Partners. The pharma expects its sales growth to be in the high single-digit range through 2030.
To hit this target, AbbVie will need to rely on its primary domain of expertise, inflammation and immunology. According to a note from BMO Capital Markets, Skyrizi and Rinvoq will “continue their robust growth in 2025,” with the pharma being “clearly confident” in the therapies’ market performance.
In addition, Humira erosion will likely be “lower on an absolute basis” than 2024 levels, BMO analysts wrote. Growth for Skyrizi and Rinvoq will likely “grow past the [loss of exclusivity] concerns,” particularly with upcoming trials and regulatory decisions for Rinvoq in lupus, alopecia areata and hidradenitis suppurativa.
Not all hope is lost in the neuropsychiatry space, however. While CEO Robert Michael said during the conference that the pharma will “commit less capital” to developing psychiatric therapies, according to Reuters, the BMO note indicates that AbbVie still “expects emraclidine opportunity to remain.” The company is planning to test higher doses of the drug.
Gilead Fends Off Criticism for Lenacapavir Access Program
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Gilead CEO Dan O’Day stood by the company’s proposed accessibility program for its HIV pre-exposure prophylactic (PrEP) lenacapavir, according to STAT News.
Gilead in October 2024 announced that it had entered into a deal with generics developers to provide a low-cost version of lenacapavir in more than 100 resource-strapped countries—mostly lower- and lower-to middle-income nations—where the incidence of HIV is high. Critics, however, have pointed out that upper-middle-income countries also struggle to control high HIV case counts.
“We’re really focused on sustainable models that fit” the needs of a country’s healthcare system, as well as the “economic situation” of these countries, O’Day said, as per STAT’s reporting. “We’ve done tiered pricing before. It is a sustainable way to make sure that countries get medicines for people in the countries that need it.”
Last year, Gilead released data for the long-acting formulation of lenacapavir. Readouts from the Phase III PURPOSE 1 and PURPOSE 2 studies showed that at a twice-yearly dosing regimen, long-acting lenacapavir can reduce HIV infections by at least 96%, with an efficacy estimate that reaches up to 100%.
Dyne Plots Path for Rare Muscle Disease Candidate
Dyne Therapeutics also provided an encouraging program update at JPM25 on Wednesday, giving what Jefferies analysts call a “bar for success” that “seems favorable” for its myotonic dystrophy type 1 candidate DYNE-101.
Dyne is planning to start a registrational study for DYNE-101, testing a 6.8-mg/kg dose of the investigational antisense oligonucleotide every 8 weeks. According to the Jefferies note, DYNE-101’s Phase I/II efficacy is within striking distance of the efficacy threshold that the pivotal trial will target, giving Dyne “cushion to succeed” by the first half of 2026. An approval is expected by early 2027.
Jefferies projects a peak opportunity of at least $3 billion for DYNE-101. Dyne is also running another candidate—the phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer DYNE-251 being tested for Duchenne muscular dystrophy—which has an earnings opportunity of $300 million to $500 million. Both assets are poised to enter registrational studies under accelerated approval pathways, according to Jefferies.
GSK to Stay Out of Obesity—but not GLP-1s
At JPM25 on Monday, GSK Chief Scientific Officer Tony Wood said that the pharma has no interest in joining the weight-loss frenzy—but GLP-1 therapies aren’t off the table, according a Wednesday report from Fierce Biotech.
The obesity space is already “very crowded,” Wood told Fierce in an interview, additionally pointing out that the treatments on the market and those in development are “enormously exciting.” Instead, GSK will focus its efforts on related conditions and the risks that remain “after you’ve dealt with the problems of weight reduction.”
The pharma is also looking for opportunities to leverage the clinical profile of the GLP-1 class beyond obesity. Several recent studies have elucidated the benefits of GLP-1 therapies outside of weight loss, pointing to potential areas of expansion.
GSK opened JPM25 with a $1.1 billion acquisition of IDRx and its lead asset IDRX-42, a small molecule drug candidate for gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
