CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: INFI) today announced its third quarter 2015 financial results and ongoing progress with its pipeline, including duvelisib, an oral, dual inhibitor of phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K)-delta and PI3K-gamma, and IPI-549, an oral immuno-oncology development candidate that selectively inhibits PI3K-gamma. Infinity also announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Fast Track designation for the investigation of duvelisib for the treatment of patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) who have received at least two prior therapies. Earlier this year, Infinity received Fast Track designation for the investigation of duvelisib for the treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) who have received at least one prior therapy. Infinity is conducting registration-focused trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of duvelisib, including DYNAMO, a Phase 2 study in patients with refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL), and DUO, a Phase 3 study in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL.
“The quarter was marked by important clinical development progress for duvelisib, particularly the completion of patient enrollment in DYNAMO. We are also pleased to have recently received Fast Track designation for the investigation of duvelisib for the treatment of follicular lymphoma in patients who have received at least two prior therapies, which complements our Fast Track designation in CLL and supports our belief in the potential of duvelisib to help fill important medical needs,” stated Adelene Perkins, Infinity’s chair, president and chief executive officer. “We are making strong progress toward the completion of patient enrollment in DUO and expect to complete enrollment this quarter. We look forward to completing our regulatory requirements expeditiously to leverage the Fast Track opportunities as we pursue parallel registration paths within iNHL and CLL.”
In addition to the DYNAMO and DUO studies, Infinity is conducting CONTEMPO, a Phase 1b/2 study in treatment-naive FL patients, and SYNCHRONY, a Phase 1b study in CLL patients whose disease is refractory to or has relapsed while receiving a Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor. Infinity expects three additional clinical studies to begin this year, including the first clinical study of duvelisib in combination with venetoclax, AbbVie’s first-in-class investigational B-cell lymphoma-2 (BCL-2) selective inhibitor. Infinity and AbbVie are jointly developing duvelisib in oncology.
“At Infinity, our mission is to build a company and a community that can sustainably discover, develop and deliver first-in-class and best-in-class medicines to patients. The recent expansion of our pipeline into solid tumors with the addition of IPI-549 represents an important step toward fulfilling our mission. We are planning to initiate a Phase 1 study of IPI-549 in patients with solid tumors in the first quarter of 2016,” Ms. Perkins continued.
In preclinical studies, IPI-549 inhibits immune-suppressive macrophages within the tumor microenvironment, whereas other immunotherapies such as checkpoint modulators more directly target immune effector cell function. As such, IPI-549 has the potential to treat a broad range of solid tumors and represents a potentially complementary approach to restoring an anti-tumor immune response when used in combination with other immunotherapies such as checkpoint inhibitors.
Recent highlights include the following:
Duvelisib Program
- Duvelisib granted Fast Track designation for the treatment of patients with FL: Infinity today announced that the FDA granted Fast Track designation for the investigation of duvelisib for the treatment of patients with FL who have received at least two prior therapies. The FDA established the Fast Track designation process to facilitate the development and expedite the review of investigational medicines intended to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and that demonstrate the potential to address an unmet medical need.
- Duvelisib data to be presented at ASH Annual Meeting: Infinity today announced that three duvelisib abstracts have been accepted for presentation at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2015 Annual Meeting, which is being held December 5 8 in Orlando, Florida. Presentations will include data from preclinical and translational research conducted in collaboration with The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research demonstrating that inhibition of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma affect B-cell growth and survival through both direct effects on CLL cells as well as by disrupting the tumor microenvironment. Additionally, clinical data from two investigator-sponsored studies in patients with hematologic malignancies will be presented. The three poster presentations are as follows:
Saturday, December 5, 2015, 5:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. ET
Title: Dual inhibition of PI3K-delta and gamma by duvelisib (IPI-145) impairs CLL B- and T-cell migration, survival and proliferation in a murine xenograft model using primary chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells (Abstract #1753)
Lead Author:Shih-Shih Chen, Ph.D., The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research
Monday, December 7, 2015, 6:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. ET
Title: Preliminary results of a Phase Ib study of duvelisib in combination with FCR (dFCR) in previously untreated, younger patients with CLL (Abstract #4158)
Lead Author: Matthew Davids, M.D., Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Title: Combination trial of duvelisib (IPI-145) with bendamustine, rituximab or bendamustine/rituximab in patients with lymphoma or chronic lymphocytic leukemia (Abstract #3928)
Lead Author: Ian Flinn, M.D., Sarah Cannon Research Institute
- Target enrollment in DYNAMO reached: In September, Infinity announced it had reached target enrollment in DYNAMO, a global, Phase 2 open-label, single-arm, monotherapy study of duvelisib (25 mg BID) in approximately 120 patients with iNHL whose disease is refractory to rituximab and to either chemotherapy or radioimmunotherapy. The primary endpoint is overall response rate. Topline data from the study are anticipated in the third quarter of 2016. The enrollment milestone triggered a $130 million milestone payment from AbbVie.
- BRAVURA study announced: In October, Infinity announced plans to initiate BRAVURA, a Phase 3, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in patients with relapsed iNHL, in the fourth quarter of 2015. BRAVURA is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of duvelisib plus rituximab and bendamustine (RB) compared to placebo plus RB in approximately 600 patients. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival. Infinity is planning to meet with the FDA to ascertain that BRAVURA can serve as a confirmatory study if DYNAMO supports an accelerated approval.
- FRESCO study announced: In October, Infinity announced plans to initiate FRESCO, a Phase 2 study in patients with relapsed/refractory FL, in the fourth quarter of 2015. FRESCO is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of duvelisib plus rituximab versus rituximab in combination with chemotherapy in approximately 200 patients. The primary endpoint is progression-free survival.
IPI-549 Program
- IPI-549 expected to enter Phase 1 clinical development in the first quarter of 2016: In September, Infinity announced the expansion of its pipeline with IPI-549, an oral immuno-oncology development candidate that selectively inhibits PI3K-gamma. At the CRI-CIMT-EATI-AACR - The Inaugural International Cancer Immunotherapy Conference, Infinity researchers reported preclinical data demonstrating the potential of IPI-549 to disrupt the immune-suppressive tumor microenvironment and enable a heightened anti-tumor immune response. Research also showed that IPI-549 demonstrated dose-dependent, single-agent, anti-tumor activity in multiple solid tumor models, including murine models of lung, colon and breast cancer. Additionally, mice treated with IPI-549 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors showed greater tumor growth inhibition than either treatment as a monotherapy.
In the first quarter of 2016, Infinity expects to begin a Phase 1 clinical study of IPI-549 in patients with selected solid tumors, including non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma. The study will evaluate IPI-549 as a monotherapy as well as in combination with an antiPD-1 antibody therapy.
Corporate Updates
- Senior management team augmented: In October, William Bertrand joined Infinity as executive vice president, general counsel. Prior to Infinity, Mr. Bertrand held various roles of increasing responsibility at Salix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and most recently served as senior vice president, general manager responsible for the Salix commercial business as well as its transition and integration into Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. From 2001 to 2013, Mr. Bertrand held positions of increasing responsibility at MedImmune, Inc., serving as its first and only general counsel from 2003 to 2013, prior to and following its sale to AstraZeneca PLC in 2008. Prior to MedImmune, Mr. Bertrand served as associate general counsel at Pharmacia Corporation. He earned a B.S. in Biology from Wayne State University and a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Third Quarter 2015 Financial Results
- At September 30, 2015, Infinity had total cash, cash equivalents and available-for-sale securities of $163.0 million, compared to $199.5 million at June 30, 2015, which does not include the $130 milestone payment received from AbbVie in November 2015.
- Total revenue during the third quarter of 2015 was $90.7 million, compared to $160.6 million in the third quarter of 2014. Revenue included a $75.2 million license fee associated with the $130 million milestone payment from AbbVie for the completion of patient enrollment in DYNAMO and $15.5 million in research and development (R&D) services. R&D services revenue for the third quarter of 2015 was composed of $9.8 million associated with the $130 million milestone payment and $5.7 million associated with the $275 million upfront payment from AbbVie received in September 2014. Revenue during the third quarter of 2014 was composed of $159.1 million license fee and $1.5 million in R&D services, both of which related to the $275 million upfront milestone from AbbVie. Infinity will recognize the remainder of the $130 million milestone payment and $275 million upfront payment over the period in which R&D services will be provided.
- R&D expense for the third quarter of 2015 was $37.7 million, compared to $44.9 million for the third quarter of 2014. The decrease in R&D expense for the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same period in 2014 was primarily due to a $5.0 million option fee payment to Takeda in the third quarter of 2014 as well as lower clinical development expenses for duvelisib.
General and administrative (G&A) expense was $9.8 million for the third quarter of 2015, compared to $8.0 million for the same period in 2014.
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