Home  Media Press releases 2003
|
|
|
| 19 December 2003 | 2003-12-19T00:00:00.0000000-00:00 |
| ASTRAZENECA AND ARRAY BIOPHARMA ANNOUNCE ONCOLOGY COLLABORATION
AstraZeneca and Array BioPharma today announced a licensing and collaboration agreement to develop Array’s MEK programme in the field of oncology. The programme includes the clinical development candidate (ARRY-142886) and related intellectual property. | Under the agreement, Array will receive an upfront payment of $10 million, research funding, potential development milestone payments (dependent upon the number of successfully commercialised products) and royalties on product sales. Array plans to file an investigational new drug application (IND) and initiate a Phase I clinical trial during 2004.
AstraZeneca acquires exclusive worldwide rights to ARRY-142886 and certain second-generation compounds for all oncology indications.
“This product development agreement highlights the strength of Array’s capabilities to create valuable orally-active drugs against therapeutically novel targets,” said Robert E. Conway, Chief Executive Officer, Array BioPharma. “We believe that AstraZeneca, a leader in oncology, is an ideal partner to bring our most advanced proprietary product to cancer patients.”
“Array has shown tremendous resourcefulness and expertise in creating this exciting drug candidate, supported by scientifically compelling preclinical data,” said Les Hughes, Head of Oncology Research at AstraZeneca. “This programme, which holds promise for the treatment of multiple cancer indications, is an important addition to our strong oncology pipeline and is complementary to our other research interests.”
About ARRY-142886
ARRY-142886, a selective orally-active MEK inhibitor, interferes with a critical cellular hyperproliferation pathway. ARRY-142886 has shown tumour suppressive activity in multiple rodent models of human cancer including melanoma, pancreatic, colon, lung, and breast cancers.
Details of the Transaction
AstraZeneca has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to ARRY-142886 and certain second-generation compounds for all oncology indications. Array retains the rights to all therapeutic indications for compounds not selected by AstraZeneca as part of the collaboration. The parties have created a joint steering committee to oversee the drug development process.
Array is responsible for filing the IND, Phase I clinical testing and certain aspects of process research for the development of ARRY-142886. In addition, Array is responsible for creating a select number of second-generation compounds, including cGMP manufacturing of Phase I clinical materials. AstraZeneca will be responsible for all other aspects of clinical development and commercialisation.
In addition to the MEK programme, the two parties have agreed to a further collaboration aimed at targets selected by AstraZeneca. Financial terms were not disclosed.
About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world with healthcare sales of over $17.8 billion in 2002 and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, oncology, cardiovascular, neuroscience and respiratory products.
AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global and European) as well as the FTSE4Good Index. AstraZeneca continues its tradition of research excellence and innovation in oncology that led to the development of its current anti-cancer therapies including 'Arimidex', 'Casodex', 'Faslodex', 'Nolvadex', 'Zoladex' and 'Iressa'. AstraZeneca is also harnessing rational drug design technologies to develop new compounds that offer advantages over current cytotoxic and hormonal treatment options. The company has over 20 different anti-cancer projects in research and development including a range of novel targeted products such as anti-proliferatives, anti-angiogenics, vascular targeting and anti-invasive agents. For more information about AstraZeneca, please visit www.astrazeneca.com
About Array BioPharma
Array BioPharma is creating the next generation of orally active drugs by integrating the latest advances in chemistry, biology and informatics. The company’s drug development pipeline is focused primarily in cancer and inflammatory disease and includes many promising small molecule drugs that affect disease pathways with well-validated targets, Array also collaborates with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to invent and optimise drug candidates across a broad range of therapeutic areas. For more information on Array, please go to www.arraybiopharma.com. Founded in 1998, Array BioPharma is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and employs over 250, including 184 scientists. Additional companies utilising Array’s drug discovery expertise include ICOS, InterMune, Eli Lilly, GenPath, Merck, Roche and Takeda.
Array BioPharma Inc.
Tricia Haugeto (303) 386-1193
thaugeto@arraybiopharma.com
AstraZeneca PLC
Investor Enquiries
Jonathan Hunt +44 207 304 5087
Media Enquiries
Steve Brown +44 207 304 5033
Edel McCaffrey +44 207 304 5034
|
|
|