Olaparib (AZD-2281, trade name Lynparza) is an FDA-approved chemotherapeutic agent, developed by KuDOS Pharmaceuticals and later by AstraZeneca. It is an inhibitor of Poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), an enzyme involved in DNA repair.

It acts against cancers in people with hereditary BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, which includes many ovarian, breast, and prostate cancers.

Targeting PARP by the small molecule inhibitors, Olaparib (AZD-2281) or PJ34, reduces proliferation and lowers the apoptotic threshold of GBM cells in vitro and in vivo, and represents a promising avenue to overcome apoptotic resistance in glioblastoma (GBM) ¹⁾