(Reuters) - An updated experimental form of AbbVie Inc's (>> AbbVie Inc) Humira arthritis drug has clear advantages over the original that could help the company confront looming cheaper biosimilar forms of the blockbuster medication, Chief Executive Richard Gonzalez said in an interview.

"It's a fundamental change in the formulation of Humira," Gonzalez said. "I wouldn't describe it as a tweak." Asked if AbbVie intends to switch current Humira patients to the new formulation, if it is approved, he said it was too soon to predict, but that such a strategy would make sense.

(Reporting by Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Christian Plumb)

Stocks treated in this article : Johnson & Johnson, Pharmacyclics, Inc., AbbVie Inc