Veliparib (ABT-888)[1] is a potential anti-cancer drug acting as a PARP inhibitor.

It kills cancer cells by blocking a protein called PARP, thereby preventing the repair of DNA or genetic damage in cancer cells and possibly making them more susceptible to anticancer treatments.

It has been shown to potentiate the effects of many chemotherapeutics, and as such has been part of many combination clinical trials.

The FDA awarded orphan drug status in November 2016 for NSCLC.

[8] In 2017, AbbVie reported that veliparib failed to improve outcomes in the triple-negative breast cancer and NSCLC trials.