Oct 30 (Reuters) - AbbVie ( ABBV ) raised its annual

profit forecast on Wednesday after strong sales of its newer

immunology drugs and key cancer treatment helped the company

beat Wall Street estimates for third-quarter earnings.

The company now expects its full-year adjusted profit to be

between $10.90 and $10.94 per share, compared with its prior

forecast range of $10.67 to $10.87 per share.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) is pushing its newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and

Rinvoq to counter a drop in sales of Humira, once the world's

top-selling medicine, after multiple less expensive biosimilars

of the arthritis drug hit the U.S. market last year.

Skyrizi recorded third-quarter sales of $3.21 billion,

beating the average analyst estimate of $2.93 billion, according

to data compiled by LSEG. Rinvoq reported sales of $1.61

billion, compared with expectations of $1.54 billion.

On the other hand, Humira's global sales of $2.23 billion

missed estimates of $2.39 billion.

Humira's sales miss comes at a time when pharmacy benefit

managers, who act as middlemen with insurers, are removing it

from their lists of preferred drugs for reimbursement. Instead,

they recommend biosimilars.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) is also expected to face pressure from lower prices

of its key cancer drug Imbruvica under Medicare, with the price

change expected to come into effect in 2026. The company last

year took a $2.1 billion charge related to a likely drop in

revenue.

Imbruvica generated $828 million in sales during the third

quarter, beating analysts' estimates of $765.1 million.

On an adjusted basis, AbbVie ( ABBV ) earned $3 per share in the

third quarter, beating analysts' estimates by 9 cents.