AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) has announced new data from a Phase 2 study of navitoclax with ruxolitinib in patients with myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow cancer.
The data indicate that the combination therapy induces cell death, potentially leading to the reversal of bone marrow fibrosis and improving survival for patients who respond to the therapy.
The study found that 12 out of 32 patients had improvements in bone marrow fibrosis. To date, however, the study did not reach the median overall survival for the overall survival.
The company presented the results at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting (AACR 2022, abstract #LB108).
Navitoclax is a small-molecule-based, experimental, novel oral BCL-XL/BCL-2 inhibitor designed to activate programmed cell death (apoptosis) in cancer cells.
Overall, Navitoclax has been the subject of 39 trials to date.
North Chicago, Illinois–based AbbVie presented the results at AACR 2022 from REFINE, a Phase 2 study testing navitoclax with the JAK1/2 inhibitor ruxolitinib.
The study focused on patients who had progressed on or had a suboptimal response to at least 12 weeks of ruxolitinib as monotherapy.
“Myelofibrosis is a cancer that originates in the bone marrow, leading to fibrosis. Currently, available therapies do not address the underlying disease biology and have not shown a consistent effect on both biomarkers of disease modification and overall survival. Disease control with reversal of bone marrow fibrosis is a key objective for improving patient outcomes,” said Dr. Mohamed Zaki, vice president and global head of oncology clinical development at AbbVie, in a statement. “That’s why we are especially pleased about these early results of navitoclax in combination with ruxolitinib that indicate its novel mechanism of action of inducing cell death may cause reversal of bone marrow fibrosis and extend survival for patients who respond to treatment.”
ABBV shares ticked down 1.48% to $167.31.
Filed Under: Oncology
