NAPSR news:Abbvie and Infinity Pharma Collaborate to Develop and Commercialize Duvelisib in Oncology

Sept. 3, 2014 - PRLog -- Abbvie and Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc have entered into a global collaboration with develop and commercialize duvelisib (IPI-145). Duvelisib is an oral inhibitor of kinase (PI3K)-delta and PI3K-gamma developed by Infinity intended to treat patients with a broad range of blood cancers including indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (iNHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Infinity is currently conducting registration-focused trials to evaluate safety and efficacy of duvelisib to treat these forms of blood cancers. These trials are: DYNAMO, a Phase 2 study in patients with iNHL, and DUO, a Phase 3 study in patients with CLL.

In accordance with the agreement, Infinity is set to 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. Upon regulatory approval, Infinity and Abbvie will commercialize duvelisib in the United States thus sharing potential profits or losses.

"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, M.D., 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. We look forward to working with Infinity to bring duvelisib to patients worldwide."

"This collaboration is an important step toward fulfilling Infinity's objective of bringing better treatments to patients and further advances our goal of building a sustainable, fully integrated biotechnology company," stated Adelene Q. Perkins, chair, president and chief executive officer at Infinity. "AbbVie will be a wonderful partner for Infinity, bringing all of the expertise and scale of a successful, well established company, together with the energy, drive, innovation, and nimbleness of a young organization. We look forward to advancing duvelisib through monotherapy studies designed to enable registration and in furthering our shared longer-term vision of combining duvelisib with both current standards of care and novel, targeted therapies."

Both companies will share responsibility for future development which includes plans to launch multiple Phase 2 and Phase 3 studies of duvelisib in hematologic malignancies over the next several years.The continuous research and development of duvelisib will certainly be an effective asset to both companies' oncology pipeline. If successful, pending regulatory approval, this treatment will join other effective therapies currently on the market. This will without a doubt bolster the need for both certified and qualified individuals to promote the company’s diversified product portfolio. When industry leaders look for new candidates for sales/marketing positions, they look toward individuals that are industry trained. Companies are looking for people that have the background to sell their product both proficiently and efficiently.

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