Local biotech firms Array, Amgen join on diabetes project

By Alicia Wallace

Longmont Ledger

Boulder’s Array BioPharma Inc. will receive a $60 million up-front payment as part of agreement with Amgen Inc. where the biotechnology giant will be granted worldwide rights to drug candidates to treat Type 2 diabetes.

Under the terms of the deal, Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen, which has a campus in Longmont, will receive exclusive rights to Array’s small-molecule glucokinase activator program, Array officials announced after market-close on Monday. The program also includes Array’s ARRY-403, which is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

As part of the agreement, Array also has to complete the Phase 1 trail of ARRY-403 and will be responsible for further clinical development and potential commercialization.

In addition to the $60 million payment, Array could receive double-digit royalties on sales of ARRY-403. Also, Amgen will fund an undisclosed number of Array employees for a two-year research project to identify next-generation glucokinase activators, an Array spokeswoman said.

In a separate announcement, Array officials said they received positive interim results from a Phase 1 trial involving a small-molecule HER2 candidate in patients with advanced cancer.

Shares of Array climbed 26 cents, or 13.1 percent, to close at $2.25. In after-hours trading, shares climbed an additional 80 cents, or 35.6 percent, to $3.01.

Array employs 343 people in Boulder. Amgen has 900 employees at its Longmont site.