Abbott underlines strong long-term prospects of AbbVie

Abbott has moved to assure investors and stakeholders of the strong future prospects of AbbVie, its new standalone proprietary drug business, which launches this week.

The new company begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange on January 2nd 2013 and the firm's leaders are taking the opportunity to underline the robust nature of the AbbVie pipeline, reports Forbes.

Dr John Leonard, the current senior-vice president of pharmaceuticals and research and development at Abbott, noted that AbbVie will have more than 20 mid-to-late stage clinical programmes in development when the company commences operations.

These include therapies for hepatitis C, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis, as well as several new indications for the blockbuster drug Humira, which accounts for around one-half of AbbVie's revenue.

Dr Leonard, who will be named senior vice-president and chief scientific officer at AbbVie, said: "AbbVie is a new type of company, a biopharmaceutical company, poised to discover and develop new medicines in some of the most complex areas of healthcare."

The firm's board of directors approved the AbbVie separation last month, with the move set to leave the Abbott brand representing the current company's medical devices and technology operations.