AbbVie Presents Results From Studies Of Investigational Compound Veliparib

(RTTNews) - AbbVie (ABBV) released interim results from an ongoing Phase 2 study of its investigational compound veliparib in combination with chemotherapy, which showed a 35 percent improvement in progression-free survival and a 30 percent improvement in overall survival in patients with previously untreated metastatic or advanced non-small cell lung cancer or NSCLC. These results, which assessed veliparib as a potential treatment for metastatic or advanced NSCLC, were presented for the first time at the 2014 Annual Congress of the European Society for Medical Oncology, September 26-30 in Madrid, Spain.

"There is an urgent need to develop novel treatment options for patients with squamous cell carcinoma," said Suresh Ramalingam, M.D., director, Division of Medical Oncology, Emory University. "These data demonstrate activity for veliparib in non-small cell lung cancer patients with squamous histology. The combination of veliparib with chemotherapy merits further evaluation in squamous cell lung cancer."

The Phase 2, randomized, double-blind trial was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of veliparib in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel, two chemotherapeutic medicines.