AbbVie Provides Update on Phase 3 Study of Ibrutinib in Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

AbbVie, a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, announced an update on the Phase 3 RESOLVE trial (PCYC-1137) of ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA) in combination with chemotherapy agents nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine versus placebo in combination with these chemotherapy agents in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (cancer). Metastatic pancreatic cancer is an aggressive and difficult-to-treat solid tumor primarily treated with chemotherapy today. IMBRUVICA is a first-in-class Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor jointly developed and commercialized by Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie company, and Janssen Biotech, Inc. (Janssen). IMBRUVICA has been available in the U.S. since 2013 and is FDA-approved for use in five B-cell blood cancers, as well as in chronic graft-versus-host-disease for a total of nine FDA-approved indications.

PCYC-1137 evaluated the efficacy of ibrutinib in combination with nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Patients were randomized 1:1 to receive ibrutinib and nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine combination treatment arm (n=211 study patients) versus the placebo and nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine combination treatment arm (n=213 study patients). At conclusion, the study did not meet its primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival (PFS) or overall survival (OS) benefit among the study population. Safety data collected from the study were consistent with the existing safety information for the study therapies. The full results from this trial will be submitted for publication to a future scientific conference and/or a peer-reviewed medical journal.

“We continue to evaluate the potential of IMBRUVICA as a cancer treatment alone or in combination for a variety of cancer types. We are passionately advancing our robust ibrutinib scientific development program to continue to advance cancer standards of care, particularly in areas that have unmet medical need,” said Danelle James, M.D., M.A.S., Head of Clinical Science at Pharmacyclics LLC, an AbbVie company. – Medical Buyer Bureau