AbbVie Cancer Drug Doesn’t Meet Trial Endpoints

AbbVie says that two Phase 3 trials of its veliparib, an investigational oral poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor did not meet their primary endpoints. A company statement says the studies evaluated veliparib in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in patients with squamous non-small cell lung cancer and triple negative breast cancer.

“Research shows there is a role for PARP inhibitors in cancers associated with DNA repair deficits, such as those with BRCA mutations,” says AbbVie vice president for oncology clinical development Gary Gordon. “In these clinical trials, we wanted to explore whether a PARP inhibitor could augment chemotherapy in patients with squamous non-small cell lung cancer and triple negative breast cancer by disrupting the repair of cancer cells. Unfortunately, these data do not support the use of veliparib in combination with chemotherapy in these patients.”