AstraZeneca's new deal is a major blow to AbbVie's Imbruvica drug

is understood to have bought a majority stake in Aperta Pharmaceuticals at a much lower price than AbbVie's cancer drug Imbruvica. This is a drug that may eventually prevail.British pharmaceutical giant announced last week that it would lay off $2.5 billion, 55 percent of its California companies, as candidates in the protection of inhibitor killings are expected to one day face a battle against the popular AbbVie brand of new drugs. If approved, or in 2018, which drug will go on the market first - Az will invest $1.5 billion, after which Aperta shareholders will have the option to sell the company's remaining $3 billion to AstraZeneta.all, it's a $7 billion bet on the future of Aperta cancer - called acalabrutinib will succeed, and so far clinical evidence suggests it can. At this year's Meeting of the American Society of Hematology, Acerta released early data showing a 95 percent response rate to the prospect of recurrence of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in its patients. Most importantly, it has so far been "better toered" than the Imbruvica drug - meaning its non-irritating side effects sometimes force patients to stop using its future rival, Imbruvica. John Byrd, director of the hematology group at Ohio State University School of Medicine, said in a statement., AstraZeneta expects the drug to lead to a $5 billion sales spike. While this may not be in line with hunter AbbVie and partner Johnson and Johnson's estimate that Imbruvica, the drug used to fight chronic lymphocytic leukemia, is expected to sell for $7 billion, AstraZeneca is not selling as much as AbbVie., for its part, even though AbbVie's $21 billion bet on Pharmacyclics, the maker of Imbruvica, is not bad. Some impressive data were presented for the drug at the American Society of Hematology meeting, including the results that established cases for its use in first-line chronic lymphocytic leukemia.but imbruvica competition is the last thing Illinois drugmakers need. It has faced a series of biosimilar threats to sell well; Recently, Amjin's application to the U.S. Drug Administration and several other companies are following suit, including Novaral, Baxalta-Momenta partners and Merck-Samsung Bioepis. (China Pharmaceutical 123 Network)