Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor

The Hedgehog cell-signaling pathway is normally active during embryonic development regulating tissue and organ formation. However, aberrant activation of the Hedgehog pathway in adults has been implicated in many of the most deadly cancers, including pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, and certain brain cancers. The activation of this pathway is necessary for many of these cancers to proliferate and survive. In addition to the role that the Hedgehog pathway plays in enabling the survival and proliferation of cancer cells, recent evidence also points to an important role for the Hedgehog pathway in cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells are believed to be the progenitor cells that allow tumors to survive despite treatment with conventional chemotherapeutics agents.

Infinity’s most advanced drug candidates are novel, proprietary systemically administered agents that have demonstrated in preclinical studies the ability to potently and selectively inhibit the Hedgehog pathway. Certain of these agents have demonstrated efficacy in multiple preclinical animal models of cancer as a single agent and are well tolerated in these models.