Dive Brief:

• Incyte is cutting down its pipeline of experimental cancer drugs, announcing Tuesday that it will no longer invest in five immunotherapies it’s been testing in early clinical trials.
• Among the discontinued programs are two so-called checkpoint inhibitors targeting a protein known as PD-L1. Unlike similar drugs already on the market that are injected or infused, these two treatments were developed to be taken orally.
• Incyte is also stopping work on two antibodies discovered via a partnership with the biotechnology company Agenus, and a bispecific antibody being developed in collaboration with Merus. Incyte previously cut a handful of early pipeline programs last May.

Dive Insight:

The cuts are the product of what Incyte describes as a “strategic review” of its pipeline. The company, which recently paid $750 million to acquire startup Escient Pharmaceuticals and its slate of immune disease drugs, is prioritizing development of drugs for inflammation, dermatology and a group of rare blood cancers.

It will also continue to invest in oncology, but is planning to focus on a pair of targeted small molecule drugs and a bispecific antibody aimed at two immune cell pathways. The company last year won approval of a PD-1 inhibitor for an aggressive form of skin cancer. However, sales have only amounted to $1 million over the first six months of this year.

Incyte’s business remains highly dependent on Jakafi, a drug approved for myelofibrosis, polycythemia vera and graf-versus-host disease. Net product revenues were $1.28 billion in the first half, or nearly 80% of the total Incyte reported in a second quarter earnings statement Tuesday.

The company has long sought to solve this “single-asset syndrome,” with some successes. Yet its next largest revenue driver is a cream version of the drug ingredient in Jakafi, sold as Opzelura for vitiligo and eczema. Sales of a lymphoma drug called Monjuvi are growing, but remain modest.

Past efforts by Incyte to develop the next big cancer immunotherapy ended in high-profile failure, while the cuts announced Tuesday involve therapies aimed at TIM-3 and LAG-3, two proteins once touted by many in the industry as potentially significant drug targets.

Shares in Incyte fell by 4% through mid-morning Tuesday.