ArQule and Daiichi Sankyo expand collaboration to produce drug candidates for cancer

ArQule, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQL) and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. (TSE 4568) today announced the expansion of 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, in the field of oncology, and it includes a two-year extension based on the application of the proprietary ArQule Kinase Inhibitor Platform (AKIP™) technology.

“We expect that the expansion of this collaboration will produce other drug candidates and lay the foundation for future growth in this field.”

"This technology has provided us with a unique and innovative approach for discovery in the treatment of cancer," said Dr. Hideyuki Haruyama, the 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 U.S.

"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 C.K. 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."