Monday, March 2, 2009

Ariad to get $10M from lung cancer treatment trial

By Mass High Tech staff

Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge oncology therapies company, reports that it will receive a $10 million milestone payment from Merck & Co., following the first patient treated for advanced non-small cell lung cancer, as part of the company’s Phase 2 clinical trial.

The Cambridge-based biotech is partnering with Merck (NYSE: MRK) on the development of oral deforolimus, an mTOR inhibitor being investigated for a multitude of cancer types. The company describes the mTOR protein as a potential “master switch” for starving cancer cells.

The comparison of oral deforolimus and placebo will indicate response in patients with tumors that have a KRAS mutation, which responds poorly to EFGR inhibitors.

The clinical trial, enrolling 150 patients through about 38 different medical centers worldwide, is the fourth Phase 2 clinical trial of oral deforolimus that the company has initiated this year. Last July, Ariad announced it had landed a $15 million milestone payment from Merck for initiating a Phase 2 trial of deforolimus for the treatment of advanced breast cancer.

Ariad (Nasdaq: ARIA) discovers and develops small-molecule drugs to regulate cell-signalling for the treatment of cancer.

Last month the company announced that it will sell almost 20 percent of its current outstanding common stock shares to certain new and existing investors for about $24.3 million in financing.