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AbbVie drops R&D program for hard-to-treat lung cancer after drug trial failure

AbbVie Inc. is discontinuing development of its late-stage experimental lung cancer therapy, rovalpituzumab tesirine, after an analysis showed the drug did not extend survival in patients compared to placebo.

The drug's research and development program has been terminated following results from the preplanned interim analysis, North Chicago, Ill.-based AbbVie said in an Aug. 29 press release.

The medicine, also known as Rova-T, was intended as a first-line maintenance therapy for advanced small cell lung cancer and was being evaluated in a phase 3 trial, dubbed Meru, in patients who had initially been treated with a platinum-based chemotherapy.

Rova-T targeted a certain protein found in more than 80% of small cell lung cancer patient tumors, but not found in healthy tissue. AbbVie gained rights to Rova-T — whose previous trials also showed disappointing results — after it acquired Stemcentrx Inc. in 2016 for about $5.8 billion, plus milestone payments.

"Small cell lung cancer continues to be one of the most difficult-to-treat cancers where there is a significant need for transformative therapies," said Margaret Foley, AbbVie's vice president and global head of solid tumor development, adding that the company remains committed to discovering drugs for small cell lung cancer and other malignancies.

AbbVie said it will move forward with the rest of its cancer pipeline, which addresses more than 20 different tumor types.

Results from the Meru study will be published in a medical journal or presented at a future medical meeting.

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