Research and Innovation > Focus Areas

Meeting Patients' Needs

Proven Expertise

Our discovery and development efforts are focused on a core set of therapeutic areas where we have proven expertise and where we believe we can have an even greater impact on the disease and how it is managed. These core areas of focus include hepatitis C (HCV), neuroscience, immunology, oncology, renal disease, and women's health.

See the medicines we're developing in these areas in Pipeline.

Addressing Serious Health Issues

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)

Our antiviral program is focused on developing treatments for hepatitis C (HCV), a disease that affects more than 170 million people worldwide, with approximately 4 million people newly infected each year. HCV infections can potentially lead to long-term complications. AbbVie scientists are working to transform current treatment practices by investigating a new treatment regimen that is interferon-free for patients with genotype 1 HCV. We have several compounds for HCV in late-stage development, including protease, non-nucleoside polymerase, and NS5A inhibitors.

Neuroscience

We are conducting innovative research on compounds that target receptors in the brain, which help regulate pain, mood, memory and other neurological functions. We have a number of early and advanced investigational compounds in human studies for conditions such as schizophrenia, chronic pain, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis (MS) - all of which affect millions of people worldwide.

Immunology

AbbVie's scientific experience with biologics serves as a strong foundation for continuing research in immunology. AbbVie is investigating a number of additional diseases, including spondyloarthropathies, hidradenitis suppurativa, and uveitis, all of which are in late-stage development. Our early discovery programs are focused on the investigation of both targeted oral therapies and biologics. AbbVie scientists are innovators in the antibody therapeutic field, with the creation and development of proprietary Dual-Variable Domain immunoglobulins (DVD-Ig), which allows for creating combination antibodies to simultaneously target multiple pathways responsible for disease progression.

Our DVD-Ig technology allows us to target multiple
disease-causing antigens with a single biologic agent. This is critical to our discovery process.

Oncology

Our oncology research is focused on the discovery and development of targeted therapies that work against the processes cancers need to survive. We are investigating both small- and large-molecule approaches, and our internal research efforts are balanced with external collaborations across industry, academia, and government. AbbVie's oncology pipeline includes multiple new molecules in clinical trials, being studied in more than 15 different cancers and tumor types, including some of the most widespread and difficult-to-treat cancers such as multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Renal Disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD), the progressive loss of kidney function, affects 50 million people in the U.S. and Europe alone. CKD is on the rise, driven by higher rates of diabetes, obesity and hypertension. AbbVie's renal care pipeline includes potential therapies for CKD and for acute kidney injury, a complication of major surgery that affects 1.2 million people at risk annually.

Women's Health

AbbVie is currently focused on developing a compound for endometriosis and uterine fibroids, which each affect more than 16 million women worldwide. Both are highly prevalent conditions associated with a number of symptoms including pain and infertility. Because these conditions are undertreated, we have the potential to fill a significant therapeutic void.