Shares of Infinity Pharmaceuticals Inc. soared Wednesday after it said it could receive more than $800 million from a collaboration with fellow drug developer AbbVie on a potential cancer treatment.

 

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Infinity will receive $275 million upfront plus up to $530 million in additional payments if the treatment, duvelisib, reaches certain development and commercial milestones. Infinity is studying duvelisib as a possible treatment for blood cancers like leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

 

The companies will both sell duvelisib in the United States and share any profits. AbbVie will be responsible for selling it outside the U.S., and Infinity would receive royalties on those sales.

 

Shares of Infinity soared about 44 percent, or $4.84, to $15.76, in morning trading Wednesday, while broader trading indexes were nearly flat. The drug developer has no products on the market and reported no revenue in this year’s second quarter.

 

Date: September 3, 2014

Source: Associated Press