AbbVie Secures FDA Nod for New ADC Drug Emrelis in Lung Cancer

Core Insights - AbbVie has received FDA accelerated approval for its antibody-drug conjugate, telisotuzumab vedotin (Emrelis), for treating certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [1][2] - Emrelis is the first FDA-approved therapy for adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic, non-squamous NSCLC with high c-Met protein overexpression who have received prior systemic therapy [2] - The approval is based on data from the phase II LUMINOSITY study, which demonstrated a 35% overall response rate in patients with high c-Met protein overexpression [5] Company Developments - Emrelis marks a significant milestone for AbbVie as it is the company's first internally developed solid tumor drug and its first solid tumor therapy approved for lung cancer [4] - AbbVie has expanded its oncology portfolio to five therapies, including Imbruvica, Venclexta, Epkinly, Elahere, and Emrelis [8] - The company is also developing another c-Met targeting ADC, Temab-A, for metastatic colorectal cancer and gastroesophageal cancer [10] Pipeline and Collaborations - AbbVie is conducting a phase III confirmatory study called TeliMET NSCLC-01 to convert the accelerated approval of Emrelis into a full approval [5] - The company has entered into a collaboration with ADARx Pharmaceuticals to develop small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics across multiple disease areas [11] - AbbVie will make an upfront payment of $335 million to ADARx, with potential milestone payments reaching several billion dollars [13]