Sales of Viekira Pak, the hepatitis C treatment manufactured by pharmaceutical giant AbbVie, totaled $231 million in the first quarter of this year—instantly making it the company's third best-selling drug.
AbbVie received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in December to sell Viekira Pak, an oral drug that treats patients with hepatitis C and has a price tag of $83,000. Viekira Pak instantly competed with Sovaldi and Harvoni, hepatitis C drugs made by Gilead Sciences.
The breakthrough drugs became a staple because of their high cure rates, but they also drew criticism from policymakers, consumer groups, insurers and providers who argued the treatments were too expensive.
AbbVie sold $138 million worth of Viekira Pak in the U.S. and $93 million abroad in the first three months of 2015. It also generated $48 million in sales in the couple of weeks it was available in December.
AbbVie's total revenue in the first quarter increased 10.5% year over year to more than $5 billion, which executives said was driven by Viekira Pak's launch. The drugmaker's net profit in the quarter increased 4.3% to $1.02 billion.
Despite the revenue boost for AbbVie, the Viekira Pak numbers pale in comparison to Sovaldi and Harvoni. Those two drugs together brought in more than $12 billion for Gilead in 2014, benefiting from being the first new hepatitis C treatments to hit the market.
And although Viekira Pak has given AbbVie a new outlet to grow, the North Chicago, Ill.-based company still relies heavily on Humira, a popular drug that treats rheumatoid arthritis. Sales of Humira soared 18% year over year to $3.1 billion, which represents 62% of the company's revenue. Humira's patent is set to expire at the end of 2016.
AbbVie Chairman and CEO Richard Gonzalez said in a news release the company delivered on its projections of “top-tier” profit growth. AbbVie is also working on finalizing a $21 billion takeover of Pharmacyclics, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based drug company known for its blood cancer treatment, Imbruvica.
