AbbVie's tavapadon could become DRI Healthcare Trust’s largest royalty asset

Canadian life-sciences royalty investor DRI Healthcare Trust (TSX: DHT.U) is moving ahead with its $316 million acquisition of royalty rights tied to AbbVie Inc.’s (NYSE: ABBV) tavapadon, after U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Parkinson’s disease treatment under the brand name Juvmo last week. The deal, announced before the approval, is expected to close following satisfaction of customary conditions.

For DRI, the ramp-up could make tavapadon an increasingly important contributor to royalty income. Consensus estimates put tavapadon royalty revenue at $2.7 million in 2026, rising sharply to $38 million in 2027, and $64 million in 2028.

That would make tavapadon DRI’s largest royalty asset, surpassing Orserdu, its existing exposure to the oral breast-cancer treatment elacestrant. Orserdu is expected to generate about $65 million in underlying sales in 2026, with revenue forecast to ease to $59 million in 2027 and $54 million in 2028. The comparison highlights the potential scale of DRI’s new tavapadon royalty stream as the drug moves from regulatory approval to commercial launch.

For AbbVie, the approval gives marks a new oral treatment that selectively targets D1/D5 dopamine receptors, offering an alternative to established dopamine agonists that primarily target D2/D3 receptors. AbbVie expects to make Juvmo available in the US in October.

Visible Alpha consensus estimates point to about $28.5 million in sales in 2026, before revenue rises to $133 million in 2027, its first full year on the market. Sales are forecast to cross the $1 billion blockbuster threshold by 2034 and reach peak global sales of about $1.3 billion by 2036.

This article was published by Visible Alpha, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is a separately managed division of S&P Global.