By Sneha S K and Christy Santhosh
(Reuters) -AbbVie plans to “commit less capital” towards experimental medicines for psychiatric disease, CEO Robert Michael said at an industry conference on Wednesday, months after its experimental schizophrenia drug failed in two mid-stage studies.
The drugmaker acquired the experimental drug emraclidine, with its $8.7 billion purchase of Cerevel Therapeutics, gaining a portfolio of drugs being tested for a range of neurological conditions.
“Psychiatry is a challenging area,” Michael said at the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference. “We would be certainly thoughtful, we can commit less capital, particularly in psych, but it doesn’t change our willingness to take calculated risks,” he added.
The drug failed to help reduce schizophrenia symptom severity in two mid-stage trials testing it in patients who face an acute worsening of psychotic symptoms, including hallucinations and delusions.
Last week, AbbVie said that it would record a charge of about $3.5 billion related to the drug.
The company is looking to compete with Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy, which received U.S. approval in September.
Bristol and AbbVie’s drugs belong to a new class of treatments that aim to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia without some of the side effects seen with commonly used antipsychotics, such as tremors and weight gain.
AbbVie had said it is evaluating other Cerevel-related drug development programs and will monitor the remaining intangible assets of about $3.6 billion.
(Reporting by Sneha S K and Christy Santhosh; Editing by Alan Barona)
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