One Month Post Schizophrenia Setback, AbbVie’s Additional Cerevel Asset Delivers Impressive Results Once More

Nearly a month following the remarkable setback involving a Cerevel Therapeutics schizophrenia asset, AbbVie provided fresh reassurance to its investors regarding the potential of the biotech’s pipeline. On Monday, the pharmaceutical company reported a Phase III success for its Parkinson’s disease treatment tavapadon, marking the third consecutive trial where the drug achieved its primary objectives.

In the Phase III TEMPO 2 assessment, tavapadon showed a statistically meaningful enhancement in motor function and challenges in daily living at the 26-week mark, as evaluated by the MDS-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. The D1/D5 partial agonist also successfully met the secondary endpoint, showing improvements in motor aspects of daily living experiences relative to a placebo.

Primal Kaur, AbbVie’s senior vice president of immunology, neuroscience, eye care, and specialty development, highlighted the significance of the TEMPO program, stating it emphasizes the drug’s potential. The company plans to present the findings to regulatory bodies to evaluate future actions and aims to submit an application to the FDA in 2025. Full results will be shared at an upcoming medical conference.

Prior to the recent TEMPO-2 trial, the TEMPO-1 and TEMPO-3 trials had previously succeeded in enhancing motor symptoms, both with and without the commonly used Parkinson’s medication levodopa.

This announcement comes almost exactly a month after AbbVie revealed the disheartening failure of another pivotal Cerevel asset, emraclidine, designed for schizophrenia treatment. The dual trial failures caused a steep decline in AbbVie’s stock, raising concerns about the pharmaceutical giant’s long-term strategy in neuroscience, which had heavily relied on emraclidine for future success.