AbbVie (ABBV) Announces Unsuccessful Phase 3 Trial for Blood Cancer Drug

Earlier today, drugmaker AbbVie (ABBV) announced that its Phase 3 trial for a blood cancer treatment using venetoclax, which was developed with Roche (RHHBF), did not succeed. The global study, called the VERONA trial, tested venetoclax with azacitidine—a drug sold as Vidaza by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY)—in people who were newly diagnosed with high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The goal was to see if this drug combo helped patients live longer, but it did not improve overall survival compared to azacitidine plus a placebo.

Indeed, the results showed a hazard ratio of 0.908 and a p-value of 0.3772, which means that the improvement was not statistically significant. However, AbbVie said that there were no new safety issues, and that people who took part in the trial will be updated by their doctors. AbbVie also made clear that this trial result does not affect venetoclax’s approved uses in other conditions like chronic lymphocytic leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia.

AbbVie plans to release the full results at a future medical event or in a scientific publication. The trial also measured other outcomes, such as complete remission and response rates, but the main focus was on whether patients lived longer. Although this trial didn’t meet expectations for treating MDS, venetoclax continues to be approved and used for other blood cancers. As a result, shares remained flat at the time of writing.

Is ABBV a Good Stock to Buy?

Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on ABBV stock based on 13 six Buys, two Holds, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average ABBV price target of $212.31 per share implies 11.5% upside potential.

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