INVESTING IN NEW TECHNOLOGIES &
APPROACHES

Cancer treatment is evolving as researchers continue to reveal the intricacies of cancer pathology and leverage this knowledge to discover novel therapeutic approaches. AbbVie is committed to leading the advancement of cancer treatment by pursuing innovative research technologies driven by our deep understanding of oncogenic pathways and biomarkers.

Core Areas of Biology

Cancer cells can suppress, evade, and appropriate the immune system to enable tumor cell survival, growth, and metastasis.1,2 Learn more about our research in this promising treatment category.
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Dysregulation of pathways that regulate programmed cell death (apoptosis) allows cancer cells to survive.1 Discover more about our research into apoptosis pathways in cancer cells. MORE >

Therapeutic Modalities

Bispecific antibodies (bsAbs), or "dual specificity" antibodies, recognize two different antigens or epitopes. Novel uses currently in research include bsAbs that redirect T cells to tumor cells, block two different signaling pathways, and target two different disease mediators.4 MORE >

Small molecule cancer drug discovery and development has been evolving over the last decade to focus on personalized medicine which emphasizes molecularly targeted drugs that exploit the particular genetic addictions, dependencies, and vulnerabilities of cancer cells.7 MORE >

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) combine the selective targeting ability of a monoclonal antibody with the cytotoxic potency of a chemotherapy agent.5,6 Learn more about how ADCs may target a cytotoxin to a biomarker-expressing cancer cell. MORE >

Chimeric antigen receptor-T (CAR-T) cell therapy is a personalized immunotherapy that uses T cells from a patient’s own blood (autologous) or T cells from a donor (allogeneic) to fight cancer.1 A patient’s T cells are genetically engineered in a lab with a CAR designed to recognize antigens on cancer cells and then returned to the patient via intravenous (IV) infusion. MORE >

  1. Hanahan D, Weinberg RA. Hallmarks of cancer: the next generation. Cell. 2011;144:646-674.
  2. Finn OJ. Immuno-oncology: understanding the function and dysfunction of the immune system in cancer. Ann Oncol. 2012;23(suppl8):viii6-viii9.
  3. Aponte PM, Caicedo A. Stemness in cancer: stem cells, cancer stem cells, and their microenvironment. Stem Cell International. 2017.
  4. Fan G, Wang Z, Hao M, Li J. Bispecific antibodies and their applications. J Hematol Oncol. 2015;8:130. Doi:10.1186/s13045-015-0227-0.
  5. Peters C, Brown S. Antibody-drug conjugates as novel anti-cancer chemotherapeutics. Biosci Rep. 2015;35(4):e00225.
  6. Diamantis N, Banerji U. Antibody-drug conjugates—an emerging class of cancer treatment. Br J Cancer. 2016;114(4):362-367.
  7. Hoelder S, et al. Discovery of small molecule cancer drugs: successes, challenges and opportunities. Mol Oncol. 2012;6(2):155-76.

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This includes information that is important for scientific exchange. For more on AbbVie’s pipeline, visit abbvie.com/science/pipeline.

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