Infinity Starts Trial of Hedgehog Pathway Blocker

Infinity Pharmaceuticals, the Cambridge, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has started an early-stage clinical trial of 30 to 50 patients with advanced solid tumors, or those that have spread. The company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:INFI]]) will test IPI-926, an orally-given blocker of the hedgehog pathway, which researchers say can play a central role in tumor growth when it becomes overactivated.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.