Daiichi Sankyo and ArQule sign new oncology agreement

Daiichi Sankyo and development partner ArQule have agreed a new deal which will see them expand their ongoing research collaboration into oncology.

The companies have extended the remit of their research, development and license agreement for novel kinase inhibitor discovery to include a third therapeutic target, with the option for a fourth.

This research will focus on ArQule's Kinase Inhibitor Platform technology, which allows specific kinases to be inhibited by small molecules that do not compete with adenosine triphosphate.

Under the terms of the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo will have an option to licence any treatments which perform successfully in pre-clinical studies, with ArQule co-commercialising any products launched in the US.

Dr Hideyuki Haruyama, global head of research at Daiichi Sankyo, said: "We expect that the expansion of this collaboration will produce other drug candidates and lay the foundation for future growth in this field."

This comes after the two firms announced in August 2010 that they are planning to conduct a phase III study of ARQ 197, a new treatment for non-small cell lung cancer.