April 26 (Reuters) - AbbVie ( ABBV ) raised its annual

profit forecast on Friday after strong sales of its immunology

drug Skyrizi and cancer drug Imbruvica helped the company beat

Wall Street estimates for the first quarter.

The company now expects adjusted profit of between $11.13

and $11.33 per share for this year, compared with $10.97 to

$11.17 estimated earlier.

Analysts on average expect annual profit of $11.10 per

share, according to LSEG data.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) and its investors have focused on sales of newer

immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq to offset the erosion of

sales from Humira - the world's biggest selling drug till it

lost exclusivity and saw the entry of close copies last year.

Skyrizi sales of $2.01 billion beat estimates of $1.94

billion, while Rinvoq's $1.09 billion came in slightly higher

than expectations of $1.06 billion.

Sales of Humira fell nearly 36% to $2.27 billion for the

quarter, roughly in line with estimates of $2.28 billion.

Despite nine biosimilars being launched in the U.S. last

year, AbbVie ( ABBV ) has held onto more than 98% of the Humira market.

Earlier this month, German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim

said it will lay off some of its U.S. sales force due to poor

sales of its Humira biosimilar in the region.

Investors have also been concerned about a potential price

drop for AbbVie's ( ABBV ) Imbruvica from 2026 after it was selected as

one of the 10 drugs subject to negotiations with U.S. Medicare

insurance plans.

The company in October took a $2.1 billion charge related to

an expected drop in Imbruvica sales. A final price is expected

to be announced on Aug. 1.

Imbruvica generated $838 million in the quarter, beating

estimates of $744 million.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) recorded an adjusted profit of $2.31 per share,

surpassing estimates of $2.23 per share, while its total sales

of $12.31 billion came in above expectations of $11.92 billion.