Daiichi Sankyo to license ARQ 092 from ArQule, under joint AKIP research collaboration

Japanese drug major Daiichi Sankyo (TSE 4568) says it has executed a license agreement with USA-based ArQule (Nasdaq: ARQ) for the development of a new AKT inhibitor called ARQ 092, the first compound to emerge from the companies’ November 2008 agreement to collaborate on research utilizing the AKIP (ArQule Kinase Inhibitor Platform) technology to generate novel, selective and potent small molecule kinase inhibitors.

The 2008 accord involved two drug candidates and an upfront payment to ArQule of $75 million, of which $60 million was in relations to ARQ- 197 (The Pharma Letter November 17, 2008). Last year, the companies moved forward with a Phase III clinical trial of ARQ 197, a small molecule inhibitor of the c-Met receptor tyrosine kinase, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; TPL August 4, 2010).

Under the license agreement announced yesterday, Daiichi Sankyo will obtain exclusive rights for development, manufacturing and marketing of ARQ 092 on a worldwide basis. No further financial terms were revealed.