Amgen Licenses Diabetes Drugs

Amgen and Array BioPharma will jointly develop Array’s portfolio of glucokinase activators, including ARRY-403, a small-molecule drug in Phase I development for type-2 diabetes. Array snags a $60 million up-front payment and future milestones. Amgen is also providing funding for a two-year research collaboration aimed at identifying second-generation glucokinase activators. Glucokinase “senses” glucose in the pancreas by catalyzing the phosphorylation of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate, a critical first step in metabolizing sugar. Drugs like ARRY-403 enable the pancreas to better sense glucose, leading to increased insulin production.