Infinity And Arcus Ink Deal For Two Triple Combo Studies

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:INFI) and Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (SG:RCUS) , entered into a clinical collaboration to evaluate two triple combination therapies in selected tumor types, which typically show minimal response to checkpoint inhibition monotherapy.

The collaboration will evaluate the triple combination of Infinity’s first-in-class immuno-oncology product candidate and selective PI3K-gamma inhibitor-IPI-549 in combination with Arcus's dual adenosine receptor antagonist-AB928 and Arcus's anti-PD-1 antibody-AB122, in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) or ovarian cancer.

The collaboration will also evaluate IPI-549, AB928 and chemotherapy, in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) or ovarian cancer. The trials will be conducted in four separate cohorts. These four cohorts will be incorporated into Arcus's recently initiated Phase I/Ib study to evaluate AB928 combinations in TNBC and ovarian cancer. Top line data from these studies are expected in 2019.

Infinity and Arcus will share expenses related to the four triple-combination cohorts, equally.

For Infinity, the collaboration will help in expanding the clinical development of IPI-549. The company believes that the combination of the three agents will help in increased reduction of pro-tumor immune suppression and increased anti-tumor immune activation. While on the other hand, Arcus believes that the deal will help the company to expand the number of promising combinations that it plans to evaluate in its recently initiated phase I/Ib study for AB928.

Year to date, shares of Infinity have declined 3.5% against the industry’s growth of 2.1%.

Zacks Rank & Stock to Consider

Infinity carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks from the same space are Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:AGLE) and ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANIP) . Both Aeglea and ANI Pharmaceuticals carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Aeglea’s loss per share estimates have narrowed from $1.93 to $1.67 for 2018 and from $3.86 to $3.57 for 2019 over the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 19.32%. The stock has rallied 94.6% so far this year.

ANI Pharmaceuticals’earnings per share estimates have moved up from $5.54 to $5.70 for 2018 and from $5.72 to $6.15 for 2019 over the past 60 days. The company delivered a positive earnings surprise in three of the trailing four quarters with an average beat of 8.69%. The stock has rallied 5.1% so far this year.

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