Array Biopharma Inc. has signed a deal to allow Japanese firm Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. access to its drug discovery technology to develop small-molecule candidates against a series of kinases.

During the multiyear collaboration, Ono is responsible for all clinical development and commercialization work. The Osaka, Japan-based company will select the kinase targets for the collaboration against undisclosed indications, and will provide funding to Array for access to its drug discovery technology. For any products that enter development, Array will be eligible for milestone payments and could get royalties. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

"Ono is a leading Japanese pharmaceutical company that seems to have some interesting ideas in the kinase area," said Mike Carruthers, chief financial officer of Boulder, Colo.-based Array. "We're excited to work with them."

The company has formed several collaborations over the years involving its Array Discovery Platform, described as an integrated suite of discovery technologies that is "everything you need for small-molecule drug discovery, from hit to lead," Carruthers said. "We've got structural biology and predictive informatics and full screening capability."

Array also relies heavily on its chemistry background, though the platform has "built up in other areas, such as cell biology and drug metabolism," Carruthers told BioWorld Today.

Earlier this year, Array expanded its collaboration with InterMune Inc., of Brisbane, Calif., in which the companies are discovering and developing small-molecule inhibitors of the hepatitis C virus NS3/4 protease. Like the Ono agreement, InterMune is funding the development work using Array's technologies, in exchange for milestone and royalty payments. Compounds from that agreement could enter the clinic as early as next year.

Array also has an ongoing collaboration with Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based Amgen Inc., which so far has paid nearly $1.5 million in milestones for discovering lead compounds for an Amgen target.

In addition to those deals, Array has signed partnerships to advance its own drug candidates. In December 2003, it agreed to work with London-based AstraZeneca plc to develop its MEK (mitogen-activated extracellular signal-regulated kinase) program, including lead compound ARRY-142886. That product is in a Phase Ib trial in cancer.

Last month, Array expanded its oncology collaboration with Genentech Inc., in exchange for a potential $50 million in research funding over the next three years. South San Francisco-based Genentech will continue to have access to Array's platform, and will handle all clinical development and commercialization for three of Array's clinical programs. Array could receive milestones and royalties from the deal, as well. (See BioWorld Today, Oct. 14, 2005.)

On its own, the company has several early stage products in the pipeline, including ARRY-334543, an orally active, small molecule that's designed as a dual inhibitor of ErbB-2 and EGFR.

"We've been cleared by the FDA to begin a Phase I trial," Carruthers said, adding that the study is expected "to start fairly soon."

Array has two programs moving toward the clinic in inflammation, a p38 program and an MEK-based product. Array retains rights to develop the MEK program in all areas outside of cancer, Carruthers said.

Behind those programs, the company is investigating selective ErbB-2 compounds in oncology.

Array reported a net loss of $9.5 million for its first quarter of fiscal year 2006. As of Sept. 30, the company had cash and marketable securities of $83.7 million.

Shares of Array (NASDAQ:ARRY) closed at $7 Friday, unchanged.