Array says it will enter new research partnership by end of year

By Jennifer Lanning Drey

Eugene, Ore., June 27 - Array BioPharma Inc. will enter into a new research partnership by the end of the year, said Robert Conway, chief executive officer of Array, at the Jefferies Healthcare Conference on Tuesday.

Conway did not provide any further details about the additional partnership.

Array currently has research partnerships with Genentech Inc., InterMune Inc. and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. that bring the company about $40 million a year, Conway said.

"This business has been very important to us in the past, and going forward, it remains something we're very excited about," he said.

Partnered research has accounted for about $180 million of the company's research funding since its inception, and Array has partial ownership of 15 drugs that would each earn between 3% and 5% royalty rates - "much more" for one compound - if commercialized, Conway said.

"[Research funding] has given us the ability to build out a large research platform and fund some of our early proprietary research," he said.

Array also plans to file Investigational New Drug applications for two of its own compounds before the end of the year, Conway said Tuesday.

The company has accelerated development of its kinesin spindle protein anti-cancer program and hopes to have a related drug in the clinic by the end of the year, he said.

In addition, the company will begin a phase 1 clinical trial of a drug candidate, most likely for blood cancers, from its P38-inhibitor program before the end of the year.

Pending the results, the company hopes to eventually begin additional trials testing the drug for inflammation with patients with rheumatoid arthritis, he said.

Upcoming clinical data

Array also plans to report data from each of its three clinical programs before the end of the year, Conway said.

The company will report on phase 1 clinical trials of ARRY-438162, its first-in-class MEK inhibitor for inflammation, at the Inflammation Research Association in October, he said.

MEK is a protein kinase that regulates both the biosynthesis of and response to a number of growth factors that drive uncontrolled inflammation associated with many human diseases.

The company plans to also test the drug for other life-threatening diseases, Conway said.

"The whole question is, 'How wide is the therapeutic index going to be?' And we'll get a clue on this through this phase 1 program between what level we inhibit CNF and then what the tolerated dose is here," Conway said.

Array also plans to report phase 1 clinical data from trials of ARRY-334543 and phase 1b clinical data on AZD6244 at the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer meeting in November.

ARRY-334543 is a single small molecule, dual inhibitor that the company plans to use to target breast cancer. The compound is an oral, selective, reversible, small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of both ErbB-2 (Her-2/neu) and EGFR. Array said that over-expression of ErbB-2 and EGFR receptors in tumors is predictive of poor prognosis in cancer patients.

AZD6244 is a MEK inhibiter being developed for malignant melanoma in conjunction with AstraZenica, which is responsible for phase 2 trials and beyond.

Development abilities

Array also plans to increase its development abilities over the next 12 months, by hiring a chief medical officer and more physicians, Conway said.

"We need to add a significant medical strategy into Array, and we're working hard on that," he said.

Array is a Boulder, Colo., biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of orally active drugs to address significant unmet medical needs.

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