
Remember that mega-blockbuster valuation AbbVie assigned to Rova-T? It’s starting to vanish — quietly
AbbVie execs have finally gotten around to doing what a host of analysts managed to accomplish long ago: writing down the value of their once much-vaunted cancer drug Rova-T.
Way down.
On Friday the company filed a notice with the SEC explaining that AbbVie $ABBV has decided to knock $4 billion off the book value of the drug weeks after researchers were forced to stop recruiting patients in the now infamous TAHOE study.
AbbVie is ambitiously leaving $1 billion of value on the books, but they note it’s under review.
That’s $1 billion more than anyone else would offer right now.
Observers never did believe the drug warranted a fat $5.8 billion cash advance in the Stemcentrx acquisition, with $4 billion in milestones. By the time the company halted the late-stage TAHOE study a month ago after determining the drug arm had a shorter survival rate than the control arm, analysts prepped last rites for the drug.
The company doesn’t much like to publicly discuss prospects for this drug any more. They have much better to offer in Phase III. Look for a quiet passage and a small service.
Memories will linger, though, as this registers as one of the worst biotech deals on the books.