AbbVie commences new breast cancer drug trial

AbbVie has announced the commencement of a new phase III clinical trial of its investigational breast cancer therapy veliparib.

The study will assess whether the compound – when added to carboplatin chemotherapy – can prove an effective means of treating women with early-stage, triple-negative breast cancer.

Involving around 620 patients, the three-arm trial will compare the addition of veliparib plus carboplatin or placebo plus carboplatin to standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The primary endpoint goal of the study is pathological complete response.

There is currently a significant need for more effective targeted therapies for early-stage triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive faster-growing form of the disease.

Dr Scott Brun, vice-president of pharmaceutical development at AbbVie, said: "This new phase III trial is an important step in potentially providing women with early-stage triple-negative breast cancer with a new treatment option for use in conjunction with surgical therapy."

This comes after the firm announced positive data from a phase III trial of its new developmental therapy for the treatment of hepatitis C last month.