AbbVie’s New CEO Is Robert Michael, Successing Richard Gonzalez

(CTN News) – AbbVie announced on Tuesday that long-time executive Robert Michael would replace Richard Gonzalez as its new CEO.

AbbVie recently announced that Michael Korn will become the company’s second CEO on July 1, following his role as president and chief operating officer.

As executive chairman of AbbVie, Gonzalez will retire from Abbott Laboratories after leading the company since it was spun off from Abbott Laboratories in 2013.

It marks the end of Gonzalez’s tenure as president and chief executive officer of AbbVie, which grew into one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical and biotech companies in less than a decade.

Additionally, AbbVie is facing one of the largest losses of exclusivity in the pharmaceutical industry, as its blockbuster autoimmune drug Humira faces fresh biosimilar competition. As a result, the company is relying on two new immunology drugs, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, to compensate for Humira’s losses.

Executives from AbbVie said during an earnings call earlier this month that they expect these two drugs to generate $16 billion in sales this year. They anticipate $27 billion in sales by the year 2027.

For some time now, the board and I have been working on ensuring a smooth succession of the CEO as a priority. Gonzalez, in a press release issued a few days ago, stated that the time has come for him to hand over the role of CEO to Rob.

Due to the business’ strong performance in recent years, we are in a position where we can continue to grow our business for decades to come. There are a large number of promising candidates in our pipeline that will allow us to sustain our growth in the future.”

Having spent more than ten years in the C-suite at AbbVie, Michael has played a key role in the successful execution of many recent deals such as the company’s acquisition of neuroscience drugmaker Cerevel Therapeutics and cancer drug developer ImmunoGen.

In the past, he spent nearly 20 years working at Abbott Laboratories, where he was in charge of molecular diagnostics, nutrition supply chain, and various other business divisions.

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