Oct 3 (Reuters) -

Drugmaker AbbVie said on Friday it has lowered its

annual profit forecast, after a flagging an expected $2.7

billion charge related to in-process research and development

(IPR&D) expenses in the third quarter.

Shares of the North Chicago-based company were down

nearly 1% at $232.0 in extended trade.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) said in a regulatory filing that such expenses

may arise from collaborations, licensing deals or asset buys,

but are not forecast due to uncertainty around timing and

occurrence. It did not specify how the expense was incurred.

Including the third-quarter charge, AbbVie ( ABBV ) now expects

full-year adjusted earnings per share between $10.38 and $10.58,

compared with the prior range of $11.88 to $12.08.

Analysts were expecting full-year adjusted EPS to be

$12.02, according to data compiled by LSEG.

The company's

previous

forecast for full-year adjusted earnings, issued on July

31, excluded any IPR&D expenses beyond the second quarter, it

said.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) added that results for the quarter ended Sept. 30

have not been finalized and are subject to its financial

statement closing procedures.

"There can be no assurance that our final results will

not differ from these preliminary estimates," the company said.

It forecast third-quarter adjusted EPS in the range of

$1.74 to $1.78, including the impact of the IPR&D expense, much

lower than the analysts' estimate of $3.27.

Separately, AbbVie ( ABBV ) said earlier this week it started

building a new active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing

plant in North Chicago, Illinois. The $195 million plant is

expected to produce medicines in immunology, oncology, and

neuroscience, and be fully operational by 2027.

AbbVie ( ABBV ) has been leaning on newer immunology drugs

Skyrizi and Rinvoq to offset declining sales of its blockbuster

arthritis treatment Humira, which began facing biosimilar

competition in the U.S. in 2023. The company has spent more than

$20 billion on acquisitions since then to bolster its pipeline.