AbbVie’s VENCLEXTA Gets Health Canada Approval to Treat CLL

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) announced that Health Canada has approved VENCLEXTA (venetoclax) in combination with obinutuzumab to treat adult patients with previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

As quoted in the press release:

This is the third indication for VENCLEXTA, a first-in-class B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) inhibitor. BCL-2 is a protein that prevents cancer cells from undergoing apoptosis, the process that leads to the natural death or self-destruction of cancer cells. VENCLEXTA is also approved in combination with rituximab for the treatment of adult patients with CLL who have received at least one prior therapy, and as a monotherapy for the treatment of CLL in the presence or absence of 17p deletion in adult patients who have received at least one prior therapy and for whom there are no other available treatment options.

Dr. Sue Robinson, MD, FRCPC, a professor at Dalhousie University, commented:

Venetoclax in combination with obinutuzumab is an effective treatment with a finite treatment duration. The approval by Health Canada is good news, especially for patients that prefer not to remain on therapy indefinitely. Based on my experience on the CLL14 clinical trial, I am looking forward to prescribing this combination regimen for older patients with previously untreated CLL and/or those who have concomitant medical problems.

Click here to read the full AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV) press release.