Infinity shares dip on canceled program

The drug, called IPI-504, is still being studied as a possible treatment for other types of cancer with partner AstraZeneca PLC.

Shares fell 30 cents, or 4 percent, to $7.25 Tuesday. The stock has traded between $5 and $11.42 over the past 52 weeks.

"Infinity has not observed evidence of biologic activity in the trial and has, therefore, concluded that the overall risk-benefit ratio does not justify continuing a signal-finding study as a single agent in this indication," the company said, in a statement late Monday.

IPI-504 was given orphan drug status last year by the Food and Drug Administration, allowing it seven years of market exclusivity along with reduced application fees, if approved. The company plans to advance the compound as a possible treatment for a digestive tract cancer, called gastrointestinal stromal tumor, into late-stage studies this year.

Meanwhile, it continues studying the compound as a possible lung cancer treatment.

"We remain committed to the clinical development of IPI-504 in GIST and non-small cell lung cancer, where we have seen early evidence of activity, as well as to future studies in additional tumor types," said Julian Adams, president of research and development and chief scientific officer at Infinity, in a statement.

Analysts mainly brushed aside the canceled program, citing its early nature and lack of importance in the broader pipeline.

"While clearly not good news, we have long viewed this trial as a bit of a flier and note that we have never modeled HPRC (prostate cancer) as a revenue source, nor have we had high hopes for its success," said Robert W. Baird analyst Christopher Raymond, in a note to investors early Monday.

He reaffirmed his view that digestive-tract and lung cancer treatments are the key indications for IPI-504.