Boston Business Journal September 29, 2004

ArQule: No surprise in interim Phase I test of drug
Boston Business Journal

Woburn-based biotech company ArQule Inc. released data from an interim Phase I study of its ARQ-501 drug and said the results confirm the company's earlier testing of its flagship drug.

The company also said it would launch a study of ARQ-501 in combination with Aventis' Taxotere. Earlier studies have focused on combining the drug with traditional chemotherapy drug Gemcitabine to combat various forms of cancer.

ArQule presented the results at a conference in Geneva and promised more details at an investor's day next month in New York.

In a statement, President and CEO Stephen A. Hill said he was "encouraged" by the results.

"Combined with our strong preclinical data, we are now well positioned" to commence broader tests. Hill said the results further underscore the company's transition to a cancer-research company, a shift that has included some 50 layoffs and a senior management shakeup in the past year.

The company said the study recruited some 18 patients suffering from various kinds of tumors for whom standard chemotherapy had not worked and that 14 received weekly infusions of ARQ-501. Three patients showed stabilization as a result of the treatment and one showing signs of tumor shrinkage.

Chief Scientific Offier Chiang Li said the study revealed "nothing to be inconsistent with our preclinical data."

ArQule has linked up with Switzerland-based Roche Holding AG to develop drugs in a deal said to be worth as much as $276 million, plus possible long-term royalty payments.