Infinity and AbbVie Collaborate to Develop Oncology Drug

Infinity Pharmaceuticals and AbbVie have entered into a global collaboration to develop and commercialize duvelisib (IPI-145), Infinity's oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K)-delta and PI3K-gamma, for the treatment of patients with cancer. Duvelisib has shown clinical activity across a broad range of blood cancers, including indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Infinity is conducting registration-focused trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of duvelisib, including a Phase 2 study in patients with iNHL and a Phase 3 study in patients with CLL.

Under the terms of the agreement, Infinity will receive an upfront payment of $275 million and is eligible to receive up to $530 million in additional payments for the achievement of development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, including up to $405 million for the achievement of milestones through the first commercial sale of duvelisib. In the US, the companies will jointly commercialize duvelisib and will share equally in any potential profits. Outside the US, AbbVie will be responsible for the conduct and funding of commercialization of duvelisib, and Infinity is eligible to receive tiered double-digit royalties on net product sales.

"We believe that duvelisib is a very promising investigational treatment based on clinical data showing activity in a broad range of blood cancers," said Michael Severino, MD, AbbVie executive vice-president and chief scientific officer. "The addition of duvelisib will complement AbbVie's emerging oncology pipeline and expand our research into combination therapies to generate improved outcomes for cancer patients."

Source: AbbVie