Good morning, everyone. I'm Richard Gonzalez, Chairman of the Board of Directors of AbbVie. I'd like to welcome you to AbbVie's annual meeting of shareholders. We certainly appreciate you joining us. I'm here today with Robert Michael, AbbVie's Chief Executive Officer, and other members of AbbVie's board, including Dr. Robert J. Alpern, Roxanne S. Austin, William H. L. Burnside, Jennifer L. Davis, Thomas C. Freiman, Brett J. Hart, Melody B. Meyer, Dr. Susan E. Quaggen, Edward J. Rapp, Rebecca B. Roberts, Glenn F. Tilton, and Frederick H. Waddell. Next, I'd like to introduce the members of the executive management team who are here with me today: Perry Seatus, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary; Scott Rentz, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. In February of this year, we announced that Rob will succeed me as Chairman effective July 1, 2025.
At that time, I will retire from the board. It has been immensely gratifying to serve with the people of AbbVie, and it's been a great privilege to also impact millions of patients around the world. I appreciate the confidence that AbbVie's investors have shown in me over the years and the confidence that they've shown in Rob since he was named CEO in July of 2004. With that, I'll turn it over to Rob for comments on our 2024 performance. Rob?
Thank you, Rick. 2024 was a year of significant progress, and I am very pleased with AbbVie's performance. We executed our top commercial priorities, advanced our pipeline with key regulatory approvals and promising data, and further strengthened our business through strategic transactions. Total net revenues were $56.3 billion, exceeding our initial expectations by more than $2 billion. Adjusted earnings per share of $10.12 was $0.49 above our initial guidance midpoint, excluding the impact of IPR&D expense. AbbVie's results demonstrate a rapid return to sales growth in the first full year following the U.S. Humira loss of exclusivity, and we expect to exceed our previous peak revenue in 2025 faster than anyone in our industry to this scale. This outstanding execution is driven by our growth platform, which continues to outperform expectations, delivering full-year sales growth of more than 18%.
This enabled us to both absorb the largest loss of exclusivity in our industry's history and continue investing for long-term growth. We increased adjusted R&D investment by $3 billion. We also added depth to our pipeline by signing approximately 20 early-stage deals, in addition to closing the ImmunoGen and Cerevel acquisitions. These transactions represent the company's commitment to invest in R&D that will contribute to AbbVie's long-term growth. In closing, AbbVie's outlook is very strong, and we are well-positioned to deliver high single-digit compound revenue growth through the end of the decade. Rick, before I turn it back to you, I want to take a moment to thank you for your exceptional leadership as AbbVie's founding Chairman and CEO and your unwavering commitment to our patients, employees, shareholders, and communities. Under your guidance, AbbVie built a track record of success that established a foundation for our next chapter.
It has been an honor and a privilege to work with you. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish you the very best in your retirement.
Thank you, Rob, for those kind words. Now I'll call our meeting to order. Proxies in the form solicited by the Board of Directors have been received, representing over 86.4% of the shares entitled to vote. More than a majority of outstanding shares are present in person or by proxy. We have a quorum. Today, we have five business items on the agenda. They include the election of the Class 1 directors, the ratification of our auditor, an advisory vote on the approval of executive compensation, a management proposal regarding the elimination of supermajority voting, and finally, one shareholder proposal. These items are now before the meeting. If you haven't voted and you joined the meeting using your control number, you may click the Vote Here button on the virtual meeting website and follow the instructions provided.
Please remember, if you have voted by proxy, either by mail, phone, or over the internet, your shares have already been voted as you directed. I will now turn to Perry to review the meeting's business items in more detail. Following these business items, we will close the polls, announce the preliminary voting results, and open the meeting for questions. Perry?
Thank you, Rick. The first order of business is the election of Class 1 directors. The Board of Directors has recommended you vote in favor of these directors. The next item on our agenda is the ratification of the selection of Ernst & Young as our auditor. The audit committee and the Board of Directors have reviewed the qualifications of Ernst & Young and recommended ratification of the firm's appointment. The next item on the agenda is the advisory vote on executive compensation. Shareholders are asked to approve the compensation of the AbbVie executives named in the proxy on an advisory basis. The Board of Directors has recommended a vote in favor of these executives' compensation. The next item on the agenda is the management proposal to eliminate supermajority voting. The Board of Directors has recommended a vote in favor of eliminating supermajority voting.
The next item on the agenda is the shareholder proposal. The shareholder proposal is the simple majority vote proposal detailed in the proxy statement. This proposal is submitted by John Cheveden. Mr. Cheveden is on the line to present the proposal. Operator, could you please open Mr. Cheveden's line?
Hello, this is John Cheveden. Proposal five, simple majority vote. Charles requested the Board of Directors take the necessary steps so that each voting requirement in the charter and bylaws that calls for a greater than simple majority vote be replaced by a requirement for a majority of votes cast for and against proposals submitted to shareholders or a simple majority. Contrary to the AbVie Board of Directors text next to this proposal, it is of utmost importance for shareholders to vote for this proposal five in the likelihood that the Board of Directors' proposal four, on the very same topic as this proposal five, does not pass. There is a major risk that the Board of Directors' proposal four will not pass because proposal four did not pass at the 2024 AbVie annual meeting, and apparently nothing has changed, and proposal four is likely a wasted proposal.
Plus, the threat of proposal four, on the same topic as this proposal five, not passing, given the Board of Directors' lack of any extra effort to help their proposal four pass following their failed vote in 2024. The AbVie Board of Directors seems to be on the exact same failure path that it used in 2024. It would seem reasonable that the Board of Directors would need to make an extra effort to get its proposal four to pass because proposal four needs a most challenging 80% approval vote from all AbVie shares outstanding, and only 70% of AbVie shares typically vote at the annual meeting. This proposal five, on the other hand, only needs a 51% vote to pass. Under these circumstances, the Board of Directors could have made arrangements to adjourn this annual meeting to seek more votes for its proposal four but failed to do so.
The AbbVie Board of Directors is more than welcome to elaborate on any innovation it is using now to avoid the repeat of its 2024 failure on this important proposal topic. Due to the AbbVie lack of action on getting more of its shareholders to vote for its proposal four, this means that for long term, AbbVie will be severely restricted in making improvements to its corporate governance, such as annual election of each director. Thus, AbbVie will, for the long term, fall short of its best potential. The lack of interest in improving AbbVie's shareholder vote turnout and, in turn, improving AbbVie's corporate governance sends a message to AbbVie shareholders who have more money to invest to cross AbbVie off their list of future stock purchases. Please vote yes, simple majority vote proposal five. Vote needed to approve the amendment and the share—what?
Okay. Right there. Thank you, Mr. Cheveden. The Board of Directors opposes this proposal for the reasons stated in the proxy statement. In particular, even if the shareholder proposal passes, simple majority voting will not be the result. The bylaws require a supermajority voting of outstanding shares to eliminate the supermajority voting requirement. Since 2018, the Board has consistently taken steps through management proposals to eliminate the supermajority vote. This shareholder proposal does nothing to advance the issue. The polls are now closed. We have a preliminary report from the Inspector of Elections, which shows that the nominees for the Board of Directors have been elected. The appointment of Ernst & Young has been ratified. The advisory vote on executive compensation has passed. The management proposal regarding the elimination of supermajority voting did not receive the necessary vote needed to approve the amendment, and the shareholder proposal for a simple majority vote has not been approved.
The final detailed voting results will be available in our upcoming report on Form 8K. Now we will turn to the question-and-answer portion of the meeting. The virtual meeting website allows shareholders who joined the meeting using their control numbers to submit questions by filling out the Ask a Question box. We will address as many topics as possible before the meeting is scheduled to end, and then we move to our board meeting. If we do not have time to respond to all of the topics, a member of our engagement team will reach out to you following the meeting to respond, assuming you provided your contact information when you joined the meeting. Ian, can we please have the first question?
Yes. Will AbbVie continue to raise the dividend in coming years?
Thank you, Ian. Scott, why don't you take that question?
Thank you, Rick. AbbVie's business continues to generate substantial free cash flow that allows us to meet all of our capital allocation priorities, which are support a strong and growing dividend, ensure a strong balance sheet by paying down debt, and invest in external innovation through business development to support our long-term growth objectives. The dividend is an important part of AbbVie's investment identity and the primary means of returning capital to shareholders. In 2023 and 2024, we demonstrated our commitment to growing the dividend by increasing it both years despite a decline in earnings related to Humira's loss of exclusivity. This signaled our confidence in AbbVie's ability to rapidly return to growth and deliver on our long-term objectives. In the first quarter of 2025, we increased our quarterly cash dividend by 5.8%, beginning with a dividend payable in February. Since inception, AbbVie's quarterly dividend has increased 310%.
Thank you. Next question. Is AbbVie considering additional M&A deals to support the company's long-term growth? If so, what type of deals?
Rob, why don't you handle that question?
Thank you for the question. Given our clear line of sight to growth for at least the next eight years, our business development focus continues to be on assets that can add depth to our pipeline and drive growth in the next decade. As I mentioned in my prepared remarks, we signed approximately 20 early-stage deals last year. This includes novel mechanisms in immunology that have the potential to raise the standard of care either as a monotherapy or in combination with Skyrizi or Rinvoq. We also acquired Nimble Therapeutics to expand our immunology portfolio with oral peptides. In oncology, we've added multispecifics, T-cell engagers, and in situ CAR-T opportunities. In neuroscience, we extended a discovery collaboration in psychiatry, added a novel mechanism for mood disorders, and acquired a next-generation A-beta antibody for Alzheimer's.
Earlier this year, we signed a licensing agreement with Gubra, marking our entry into obesity, which represents a potential new source of long-term growth for AbbVie.
Great. Next question. Why did AbbVie decide to combine the CEO and chair roles again?
I'll take that question. As most of you know, AbbVie has established an outstanding track record of performance with a combined CEO and chair role. The board has determined that this leadership structure in which the offices of the chairman of the board and the chief executive officer are held by one individual with a board-appointed lead independent director. This ensures the appropriate level of oversight, independence, and responsibilities applied to all board decisions, including risk oversight. We believe this is in the best interest of AbbVie and its shareholders.
Great. Next question. How will sectoral tariffs on pharmaceuticals impact AbbVie?
Rob, why don't you take that question?
Thanks, Rick. I'd be happy to take that question. In the absence of policy details, it's premature to speculate on the impact from sectoral tariffs. To the extent there is an impact, we believe it will be in line with our peers, given that AbbVie has an extensive manufacturing network of 11 sites in the U.S., including API, biologics, toxins, and small molecules. For example, our largest product, Skyrizi, is made in the U.S. for the domestic market. If sectoral tariffs are implemented, we will look to mitigate as much of the impact as we can. In the near term, we can take inventory management actions or secure alternate sources of API. We can also look at cost-efficiency and productivity initiatives as a source of mitigation, along with any additional overperformance from our growth platform. Longer term, we will add more U.S.
manufacturing capacity by investing more than $10 billion of capital in the U.S. to support our volume growth and our expansion into new areas such as obesity.
Ian, I believe we have time for one more question.
How has the pipeline progressed in the past year?
That would be a great question for you, Rob.
We are making excellent progress with our pipeline. Over the past year, we achieved regulatory approvals for Skyrizi in UC, Rinvoq in GCA, Epkinly in later lines of follicular lymphoma, Elahere for FR-alpha positive platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, tavapadon for advanced Parkinson's, and new indications for Botox and Juvederm. We are also advancing several pipeline programs that have the potential to be meaningful sources of long-term growth. These include lutikizumab across several immunology indications, 383 in multiple myeloma, and our next-generation ADCs, including TMAP-A for several solid tumor types and 706 for small cell lung cancer. When you couple our internal pipeline progress with the depth we have added through business development, we are clearly operating from a position of strength in R&D.
I want to thank all of our shareholders for your confidence and trust that you put into AbbVie. Our meeting is now adjourned.
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.