Oncology drug discovery collaboration

ArQule and Daiichi Sankyo are expanding their research, development and license agreement for the discovery of novel kinase inhibitors in the field of oncology.

This expanded agreement establishes a third therapeutic target, with an option for a fourth, and it includes a two-year extension based on the application of the proprietary ArQule Kinase Inhibitor Platform (AKIP) technology.

“This technology has provided us with a unique and innovative approach for discovery in the treatment of cancer,” said Dr Hideyuki Haruyama, global head of research, Daiichi Sankyo. “We expect that the expansion of this collaboration will produce other drug candidates and lay the foundation for future growth in this field.”

Consistent with the existing AKIP collaboration, the economic terms provided for in the expanded agreement include payments for research support, licensing fees for compounds discovered as a result of this research, milestone payments related to clinical development, regulatory review and sales, and tiered royalty payments on net sales of each product.

Daiichi Sankyo will have an option to license compounds directed to the targets defined under the agreement following the completion of certain pre-clinical studies. ArQule retains the option to co-commercialize any resulting licensed products in the US.

“Our initial drug discovery collaboration has identified a development candidate for one target, and we are optimizing advanced lead compounds for the other target,” said Dr Thomas CK Chan, chief scientific officer of ArQule. “The expansion of this collaboration will continue to deploy AKIP technology to discover inhibitors with novel modes of action for additional oncology targets over the next two years.”