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AbbVie’s Business Development, Cancer Plans Not Put Off By Stemcentrx Disappointments

 
• By Joseph Haas

At J.P. Morgan, AbbVie said the clinical struggles of Rova-T won’t alter its deal-making plans and leave it with plenty of solid tumor possibilities. The pharma took a $4bn write-off of the Stemcentrx deal on Jan. 4.

Business concept illustration of a businessman being guided by a hand holding a flashlight uncovering arrow sign.

AbbVie Inc.’s $5.8bn purchase of Stemcentrx Inc. in 2016 was intended to add promising solid tumor oncology candidates to its pipeline, but after multiple clinical trial disappointments with lead candidate rovalpituzumab tesirine (Rova-T), the pharma recently took a $4bn impairment charge on the deal. At the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, AbbVie President Michael Severino said that result won’t affect the firm’s deal-making plans and that AbbVie still has significant solid tumor assets in-house.

The Chicago-area drug maker halted the Phase III TAHOE study of Rova-T in second-line small cell lung cancer (SCLC) in...

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