Eli Lilly (LLY.N), opens new tab said on Tuesday its drug for a type of blood cancer was more effective in a head-to-head study against AbbVie’s (ABBV.N), opens new tab Imbruvica when tested in both untreated and previously treated patients.
The drug, Jaypirca, was being tested in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma.
The disease is characterized by an increased production of abnormal white blood cells that have difficulty fighting infections. These faulty cells can be found in the bone marrow or lymph nodes.
Lilly said Jaypirca achieved a higher overall response rate, or the percentage of patients whose cancer shrinks or disappears, compared to Imbruvica, meeting the study’s main goal of being non-inferior.
A further analysis showing survival of patients without progression of disease — a key secondary goal of the study — is planned, it said. While data on this goal was not mature yet, Lilly said it was trending in favor of Jaypirca being superior.
Jaypirca belongs to a class of drugs called reversible BTK inhibitor. BTK is a key target in several B-cell cancers, including mantle cell lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Lilly’s drug is approved for both forms of cancer by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The company said the previously treated patients in the study were not treated by BTK-inhibitors. The data adds to its plan of enabling future regulatory approvals that may allow physicians to use Jaypirca in various patients, whether untreated or treated with BTK-inhibitors, it said.
Jaypirca recorded $337 million in sales in 2024. Analysts estimate 2025 sales to reach $580.5 million, according to data compiled by LSEG. Imbruvica brought in $3.35 billion in revenue for AbbVie last year.
