Wednesday, February 6, 2008

ArQule wins $3M milestone from Japanese partner

Following the launch of Phase 1 trials of an anti-cancer drug in Asia, ArQule Inc. reports it has received a $3 million milestone payment from partner Kyowa Hakko Kogyo Co. Ltd. of Japan.

Kyowa launched the Phase 1, dose escalation trial in Japan with ARQ 197, a small molecule drug, which triggered the milestone under the terms of an exclusive license agreement signed between the two companies in April 2007.

The original agreement was worth up to $123 million in upfront and potential development milestone payments from Kyowa to ArQule, of which ArQule previously received a $30 million cash licensing payment. The agreement also includes various sales milestone payments on net sales of ARQ 197 in Japan, China (including Hong Kong), South Korea and Taiwan.

Woburn-based ArQule has proprietary rights to ARQ 197 in the rest of the world. In the United States, the company has initiated Phase 2 clinical trials, and additional Phase 2 trials with ARQ 197 in the United States are planned to begin in 2008, officials said.

ArQule reported a net loss for 2006 of $31.4 million, on revenue of $6.6 million.