AbbVie faucets Robert Michael as CEO, succeeding Richard Gonzalez

AbbVie on Tuesday stated longtime government Robert Michael will develop into the corporate’s new CEO, changing Richard Gonzalez. 

Michael, who’s AbbVie’s president and chief working officer, will develop into the corporate’s second-ever CEO on July 1. Gonzalez, who has led the corporate because it spun out from Abbott Laboratories in 2013, will retire and develop into AbbVie’s government chairman. 

The announcement marks an finish to Gonzalez’s profitable stint as the highest government of AbbVie, which remodeled into one of many largest corporations within the biotech and pharmaceutical trade in lower than a decade.

It additionally comes as AbbVie grapples with one of many pharmaceutical trade’s greatest losses of exclusivity, as its blockbuster autoimmune drug Humira faces recent biosimilar competitors. However the firm is pinning its hopes on a pair of newer immunology medication, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, to offset the losses from Humira. 

AbbVie expects these two medication to put up $16 billion in gross sales this yr and $27 billion by 2027, executives stated throughout an earnings name earlier this month. 

“The board and I’ve been planning for a seamless CEO succession for a while. Now could be the opportune time at hand the CEO position over to Rob,” Gonzalez stated in a launch. “The enterprise is performing very effectively and is in a robust place for the long run. Our pipeline accommodates a number of promising candidates to maintain our future robust development.”

Michael has spent greater than a decade climbing the C-suite ranks at AbbVie, enjoying a key position in executing latest offers resembling the corporate’s acquisition of neuroscience drugmaker Cerevel Therapeutics and cancer drug developer ImmunoGen. 

He beforehand spent practically 20 years at Abbott Laboratories, overseeing enterprise divisions resembling molecular diagnostics and diet provide chain.

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