AbbVie has bagged rights to Infinity Pharmaceuticals’ blood cancer drug duvelisib in a deal that could be worth over $800 million to the US biotech.
Duvelisib, also known as IPI-145, is an oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide-3-kinase-delta and PI3K-gamma. It is in Phase II for indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma and Phase III for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Cashwise, Abbvie is paying $275 million upfront cash and up to $530 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones. In the USA, the firms will co-market and split profits while elsewhere, Infinity will receive royalties ranging from 23.5% to 30.5%.
Michael Severino, AbbVie chief scientific officer, said duvelisib is “a very promising investigational treatment based on clinical data showing activity in a broad range of blood cancers”. He added that the compound will complement AbbVie’s emerging oncology pipeline and expand our research into combination therapies”.
News of the deal led to a leap in Infinity’s stock, with shares up 40% at 9.45am (Eastern time) to $15.20.
