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AbbVie ( ABBV ) says that four years will pass before it begins to accrete earnings from its $5.8 billion purchase of Stemcentrx, but AbbVie stock reversed an early loss and was up early Thursday afternoon after the companies announced the acquisition. AbbVie stock fell as much as 5.2% early in the stock market today , but it was up a fraction, near 61, in afternoon trading, 15% off a record high of 71.60 set July 21. South San Francisco, Calif.-based Stemcentrx’s lead late-stage asset is called rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T), and it’s already in registrational trials for small-cell lung cancer (SCLC). AbbVie says that it will pay $2 billion of the $5.8 billion purchase price in cash and the rest in stock. Stemcentrx will also receive up to $4 billion in cash milestone payments. “AbbVie expects this transaction to be approximately (20 cents) dilutive to our ongoing earnings per share in 2016, with accretion beginning in 2020,” the company said in its announcement, lowering its 2016 EPS guidance to $4.62 from $4.82. AbbVie said that it would execute an “accelerated” share repurchase program of up to $4 billion as soon as the completion of the purchase, which is expected this quarter. Meanwhile, AbbVie early Thursday reported Q1 earnings that beat Wall Street estimates while falling a tad short on revenue. AbbVie said that it earned $1.15 per share minus items in Q1, up 22% and two cents better than analysts expected, on $5.958 billion in sales, up 18%. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected $5.966 billion. Global Humira sales rose 19% excluding foreign exchange impacts, AbbVie said. Humira is AbbVie’s best seller, generating 60% of total revenue. It treats immunological disorders, primarily rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. AbbVie Hep C Drug Viekira Disappoints In a Thursday research note to investors, Evercore ISI analyst Mark Schoenebaum cited an approximately 7%, $151 million beat on U.S. Humira sales as “largely offset” by a $111 million miss on global Viekira revenue, “primarily driven by a U.S. miss, possibly due to competition from Merck ( MRK ) as well.” AbbVie put total Humira sales at $3.577 billion for Q1, with U.S. sales up 32% to $2.195 billion. Viekira, which treats hepatitis C, is AbbVie’s No. 2 drug, generating $414 million globally, or about 6.9% of total sales, AbbVie said. AbbVie CEO Richard Gonzalez said the purchase of Stemcentrx is a mark of AbbVie’s “innovation in oncology, a critical component of our long-term growth and an area of significant need to millions of patients worldwide.” Stemcentrx’s trial drug Rova-T, which has been submitted to the FDA for breakthrough therapy designation too, is under investigation as a third-line treatment in SCLC, which has no approved therapy, AbbVie said. “Rova-T is the first predictive, biomarker-based therapy associated with drug efficacy in small-cell lung cancer, and that is a big deal for this difficult disease,” Charles Rudin, chief of thoracic oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said in AbbVie’s announcement. Stemcentrx also has four novel compounds in clinical trials for triple-negative breast cancer, ovarian cancer and non-small-cell lung cancer, other compounds “advancing toward clinical trials in 2016, and a proprietary technology platform that leverages stem cell biology to identify and screen potential targets against live tumor tissue to more predictably advance discovery and development of new assets,” AbbVie said. Brian Slingerland is privately held Stemcentrx’s co-founder and CEO. Scott Dylla is co-founder and chief scientific officer.