Healthcare Industry News: Taxotere
News Release - February 4, 2008
Infinity and MedImmune Announce Approval for Generic Name for Novel Hsp90 Inhibitor
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 4, 2008 (Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network) -- Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NasdaqGM:INFI ) and MedImmune today announced that the United States Adopted Names (USAN) Council, in consultation with the World Health Organization (WHO) International Nonproprietary Names Expert Committee, has approved the use of the nonproprietary or generic name ``retaspimycin'' for the companies' lead heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) inhibitor, IPI-504. Retaspimycin hydrochloride is currently being evaluated in clinical trials for the potential treatment of a variety of solid tumor cancers, including gastrointestinal stromal tumors, non-small cell lung cancer, and hormone resistant prostate cancer.About USAN
The USAN Council serves health professionals in the United States by selecting simple, informative, and unique nonproprietary names for drugs by establishing logical nomenclature classifications based on pharmacological and/or chemical relationships to ensure that drug information is communicated accurately and unambiguously. The USAN Council aims for global standardization and unification of drug nomenclature by working closely with the International Nonproprietary Name Programme of WHO and various national nomenclature groups.
About Retaspimycin
Retaspimycin, also known as IPI-504, is a small molecule drug candidate being developed jointly by Infinity and MedImmune. The drug product, retaspimycin hydrochloride for injection, has been generally well-tolerated and has shown promising biological activity in Phase 1 clinical trials in patients with metastatic and/or unresectable gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST) and patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The companies are currently conducting the expansion stage of the Phase 1 trial in patients with refractory GIST and other soft tissue sarcomas and the Phase 2 portion of the Phase 1/2 trial in advanced NSCLC. Retaspimycin hydrochloride is also being evaluated in a Phase 2 study in patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer and a Phase 1b study of retaspimycin in combination with Taxotere(r) in patients with advanced solid tumors. In preclinical studies, retaspimycin has been shown to inhibit Hsp90 potently and selectively, thereby killing cancer cells.
About Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Infinity is an innovative cancer drug discovery and development company that is seeking to leverage its strength in small molecule drug technologies to discover, develop, and deliver to patients best-in-class medicines for the treatment of cancer and related conditions. For more information on Infinity, please refer to the company's website at http://www.infi.com.
About MedImmune
MedImmune strives to provide better medicines to patients, new medical options for physicians and rewarding careers to employees. Dedicated to advancing science and medicine to help people live better lives, the company is focused on the areas of infectious diseases; cancer; inflammatory diseases; cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; pain and central nervous system disorders and gastrointestinal diseases. With approximately 3,000 employees worldwide and headquarters in Maryland, MedImmune is wholly owned by AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN.L ) (NYSE:AZN ). For more information, visit MedImmune's website at http://www.medimmune.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains, in addition to historical information, certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, in particular statements related to the research and development of retaspimycin. Such statements reflect the current views of MedImmune and/or Infinity management and are based on certain assumptions. MedImmune is a member of the AstraZeneca Group of companies. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated as a result of a number of factors, including risks and uncertainties discussed in the reports and other documents filed by AstraZeneca plc with the Securities and Exchange Commission and in Infinity's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 7, 2007. There can be no assurance that such development efforts will succeed, that the products will receive required regulatory clearance or, even if such regulatory clearance is received, that the subsequent products will ultimately achieve commercial success. Further, any forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as of the date hereof, and AstraZeneca and Infinity expressly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise may be required by applicable law or regulation.
Taxotere(r) is a registered trademark of sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC
Source: Infinity Pharmaceuticals
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