“Our mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and products that solve serious health issues, enhance people’s lives today, and address tomorrow's medical challenges.“

This is one of the company's mottos striving to go where others are scared to dare - terminal illnesses. AbbVie, with currently over 50.000 employees worldwide, has set its goals toward reaching the unreachable.

Emerging from Abbott in 2013, AbbVie became an individual in its work, with a small abbreviation in the name as they still proudly want to represent where their company originated from.

AbbVie pharmaceuticals, headquartered in North Chicago, is set to create an innovative kind of enterprise. It is a biopharmaceutical company - the pharmaceutical part stands for its resources and global level, while the bio part stands for the culture they apply.

Since their story started in 1888, there is more to this company than we see today, and its founder, Dr. Wallace C. Abbot, has set a years-long foundation.

Full Devotion From Day One

Founded less than 10 years ago, the origins of this company follow more than a century back, starting with its founder Dr. Wallace C.Abbot founded the Abbott Alkaloidal Company.

Back in 1885, Dr. Wallace graduated from the University of Michigan. In 1888, he was merely an experienced physician and set up the Abbott Alkaloidal Company. Using the alkaloid part of plants, he designed pills that would provide the most effective treatments for his patients at the time.

The first sales would gain the company 2,000 dollars, and by 1910, a range of 700 products would be offered by the company. Branches would start opening here and there around the US, and in 1915 the company would change its name to Abbott Laboratories.

In 1921, Dr. Wallace C.Abbot passed away, and Dr. Alfred Stephen Burdick was appointed to be president. From there on, the idea to find effective solutions for people has continued to live up until today.

AbbVie was founded in 2013, an astounding 125 years after its founder set the first step towards a better future.

AbbVie Was Born

At the very beginning of 2013, the company placed its foundation and was set to launch. A few months later, the first patch of AbbVie products was released to the public.

In the same year, the FDA granted the company designation, AbbVie ranked 4th on the list of top science employers in Science magazine, and ‘The AbbVie Way’ of culture was brought to life.

The year 2014 significantly affected the company's future; that’s when the international ‘Week of Possibilities’ was started. With over 7,000 employees, this volunteering event is held in nearly 60 countries and has continued to spread its mission until today.

But the success for AbbVie was just about to bloom. The Parkinson’s disease medicine that the company had been having trials for got approved by the FDA in 2015. Shortly after this, their drug for HS, a chronic inflammatory skin condition, got approval as well.

A groundbreaking announcement from AbbVie was the approval from the FDA for the Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) treatment in 2018. The company found a solution to this very aggressive type of cancer with a low survival rate.

In the upcoming years, many more successful trials will result in satisfying results and approvals.

The Pharmaceutical Market

It comes as no surprise that the pharmaceutical market is a competitive one. One must overcome many obstacles to attain even minor success in it.

AbbVie had quite the challenge to stand out, as firstly, it is a child of a pharmaceutical giant. Setting its own ground in a market this competitive was a real struggle.

AbbVie has had false accusations against it, as the competitors are always in the race to reach the targeted audience first. Denying these false accusations, AbbVie continued forward, proudly promoting its founder's mission set from the very beginning.

More Than Just Healing

Their first act of appreciating mothers trying to build a successful career is being openly recognized and honored by the Working Mother magazine. Placing AbbVie among its ‘Working Mother 100 Best Companies’ outstands the effort of the company to give its employees advanced working programs. With the flexibility the company offers, childcare, and paid parental leaves, it has ranked in the first 100 for many consecutive years.

Earning 2nd place in line in Barron’s 500 was followed by recognition from Fortune as the top 100 companies to work for list. Since employee satisfaction is always a priority for AbbVie, making its way to be ranked in the CR Magazine’s annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List was expected.

Donations are also usual practice for this biopharmaceuticals company, benevolently giving to those in need. The company’s donation of 100 million dollars to Ronald McDonald House Charities was put down in history as the largest single donation for both AbbVie and the association.

Thus, AbbVie isn’t just changing the field of medicine - it actively participates in the world and affects positive changes in every aspect.

AbbVie Inc.'s Finances and Shareholders

Arising as a branch of Abbott but existing as its own individual company, AbbVie has 9 investors, 4 of which are the leading ones. With a total worth of approximately 245 billion dollars as of June 2022, the company’s last investment was made in August 2021 by Eskenazi Health.

AbbVie is not owned by an individual but by shareholders. Currently, the biggest shareholder has 8.1%, and the second and third largest have 7.1% and 4.4% shares.

What is interesting about the company is that it has general public ownership. It takes 31% of all the shares, allowing the general public to affect its policies and work to a certain degree. It is a sizable number compared to the other shareholders, and the general public could have the final word in decision-making.

An Example to Follow

Not as many companies today have the same approach as AbbVie. No matter how you establish a connection with the company, whether you serve others in its name or use its services, you end up profoundly satisfied.

Putting people's fundamental rights as their main priority, providing the proper environment for any individual to thrive, and prioritizing equity, equality, and diversity above anything else is what got them this far. The company is completely devoted to providing substantial services to the community and bringing on positive change.

“But we haven’t come this far to only come this far.” - a sentence that marks AbbVie’s long history and represents what it would continue to be. The team behind the company has already been acknowledged with many rewards, but their work in the field of medicine is never finished. Ensuring better care and searching for solutions to all sorts of diseases is the company’s mission, and it strives to complete it every day.

AbbVie's Future Plans

With more than 120 pipelines, 60 AbbVie pipelines are either in the mid or late stage of the trial, and promising results are expected to be announced quite soon. What the company is aiming toward in the next five years is to shift from traditional drugs to alternative sources, as well as cover as many lethal illnesses as they possibly can.

If everyone did their part, we would live in a better world. The international approach of the company thrives on living up to this idea, as people who help their immediate surroundings are the ones that affect global change.

Even after so many years, the motivation behind Dr. Wallace C.Abbot still continues to live, and AbbVie continues to spread the message as the youngest product of Dr. Wallace’s deeds.