Pfiz­er $PFE has struck a deal with Boul­der-based Ar­ray Bio­Phar­ma $AR­RY to fund clin­i­cal tri­als in­volv­ing sev­er­al an­ti-can­cer com­bi­na­tions from both drug­mak­ers.

The plan is to test the po­ten­tial ben­e­fits of com­bin­ing mol­e­c­u­lar­ly tar­get­ed ther­a­pies with im­munother­a­pies. The com­pa­nies will start with com­bin­ing Ar­ray’s MEK in­hibitor binime­tinib with Pfiz­er’s in­ves­ti­ga­tion­al PARP in­hibitor ta­la­zoparib, and avelum­ab, a hu­man an­ti-PD-L1 IgG1 mon­o­clon­al an­ti­body.

Ron Squar­er

Ar­ray’s in­ves­ti­ga­tion­al drug binime­tinib has had a few ups and downs this year. In March, Ar­ray walked back from plans to file its NDA af­ter lack­lus­ter da­ta in NRAS-pos­i­tive melanoma di­min­ished its prospects for ap­proval. But da­ta from a com­bo study in­volv­ing binime­tinib and en­co­rafenib in BRAF-mu­tant ad­vanced melanoma lat­er in the year were more promis­ing.

The drug is in sev­er­al Phase III tri­als in com­bi­na­tion with drugs from Genen­tech, Roche, and As­traZeneca. Now, the drug will be test­ed in com­bi­na­tion with Pfiz­er’s in­ves­ti­ga­tion­al ther­a­pies.

“These nov­el ap­proach­es com­bin­ing tar­get­ed ther­a­py and im­munother­a­py hold great po­ten­tial to help pa­tients fight­ing can­cer in dif­fer­ent in­di­ca­tions, with an ini­tial main fo­cus on lung and pan­cre­at­ic can­cer,” said Ar­ray’s CEO Ron Squar­er in a state­ment.

Un­der the deal, Ar­ray and Pfiz­er will col­lab­o­rate on a Phase Ib clin­i­cal tri­al to test a se­ries of com­bi­na­tions in­volv­ing binime­tinib, avelum­ab and ta­la­zoparib across var­i­ous tu­mor types. Ini­tial­ly the fo­cus will be in non-small cell lung can­cer and pan­cre­at­ic can­cer, and ad­di­tion­al in­di­ca­tions will be ex­plored at a lat­er stage.

The study is ex­pect­ed to be­gin by the third quar­ter of 2018. The tri­al will be spon­sored and fund­ed by Pfiz­er, with Ar­ray pro­vid­ing binime­tinib sup­ply.

Paul McKenzie took over as CEO of Australian pharma giant CSL this month, following in the footsteps of long-time CSL vet Paul Perreault.

With an eye on mRNA, and quickly commercializing its new, $3.5 million-per-shot gene therapy for hemophilia B, McKenzie and chief medical officer Bill Mezzanotte answered some questions from Endpoints News this afternoon about where McKenzie is going to take the company and what advances may be coming to market from CSL’s pipeline. Below is a lightly edited transcript.

Boehringer Ingelheim reported human pharma sales of €18.5 billion on Wednesday, led by type 2 diabetes and heart failure drug Jardiance and pulmonary fibrosis med Ofev. Jardiance sales reached €5.8 billion, growing 39% year over year, while Ofev took in €3.2 billion, notching its own 20.6% annual jump.

However, Boehringer is also looking ahead with its pipeline, estimating “In the next seven years the company expects about 20 regulatory approvals in human pharma.”

Microcap biotech Seelos Therapeutics is halting enrollment of its study in spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 (also known as Machado-Joseph disease) because of “financial considerations,” and in order to focus on other studies, the company said today, adding that the pause would be temporary.

The study will continue with the patients who have already enrolled, and the data from them will be used to decide whether to continue enrolling others in the future.