"We built Loxo Oncology around three ideas: informed targetselection, professional chemistry and efficient clinical trial execution. Ourcollaboration with Array provides a world-class chemistry solution to the mostexciting emerging targets. Our first program is making excellent progress andwe expect to initiate human clinical trials in 2014," commented Josh Bilenker,MD, CEO of Loxo and a partner in
Aisling Capital, which established and funded Loxo.
No details were released as to the specific cancer targetsthe agreement will focus on, but the target will be a specified novel oncogenicactivating mutation. Array's pipeline currently contains two drug candidatesunder development for the treatment of cancer: ARRY-520, a selective KSPinhibitor indicated for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and ARRY-614, ap38/Tie2 inhibitor that is indicated for the treatment of myelodysplasticsyndromes (MDS). Both p38 and Tie2 are dysregulated in the bone marrow of MDSpatients, Array notes on its website. ARRY-614 targets angiogenesis, andARRY-520 targets replication and transcription.
"As the biotech industry continues to adapt to a shiftingfunding environment and compressed development times, it is important for smallcompanies to prioritize capital efficiency from the outset," Dennis Purcell,senior managing director at Aisling Capital, noted in a statement. "Loxo'scollaboration with Array is an innovative solution to one of the corechallenges in our industry—how to fund innovation without funding duplicativeinfrastructure. In biotech, the cost of capital is too high to do otherwise."
SOURCE: Array press release
