Merck, AstraZeneca Win Best Partnership Alliance

In June 2009, AstraZeneca and Merck entered into an agreement to conduct joint phase 1 clinical trials of their respective cancer drugs — AstraZeneca's MEK inhibitor AZD6244 (ARRY-886) and Merck's AKT inhibitor MK-2206.

In November 2010, the pioneering, early-stage collaboration won the Scrip Award for "Best Partnership Alliance."

The Scrip Awards are among the most prestigious awards in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector and are designed to recognize excellence and achievement within the industry.

Trailblazing Partnership

The Best Partnership Alliance Award is specifically designed to recognize the importance of partnerships involving pharmaceutical and biotech companies in developing novel therapeutics. The award is presented to partnerships that are the most mutually beneficial, have the most strategic potential and are innovative in structure. For the Scrip Award judges, the collaboration between Merck and AstraZeneca fit the bill.

Under the terms of their partnership agreement, AstraZeneca and Merck are working together to evaluate co-administration of the compounds in a Phase I clinical trial for the treatment of solid cancer tumors. The partnership is the first time that two large pharmaceutical companies have collaborated to evaluate the potential for combining candidate molecules at such an early stage of development

Preclinical evidence suggests that combined administration of MEK- and AKT-inhibiting compounds could enhance their anticancer properties. Usually, such combinations would only be studied when one or both of the drugs has entered late-stage development or received marketing approval. However, Merck and AstraZeneca are pursuing this approach in the hope that it will bring new treatment strategies to patients more quickly. Scrip Award judges called the strategy brave and commendable and labeled the deal "genuinely trailblazing."

Exploring Two Anticancer Agents with Two Distinct Targets

Advances in cancer research have led to a new generation of drugs designed to precisely target features specific to cancer cells while minimizing the effect on healthy cells. Several of these drugs provide patient benefit as monotherapy, but increasingly the ability of cancer cells to adapt and develop resistance has become apparent. Research suggests that combination therapies which include drugs with different mechanisms of action impacting cancer cells in multiple ways may provide an improved anticancer benefit and decrease the risk of relapse.

With their novel approach, Merck and AstraZeneca are changing how the industry is working to develop new therapies. For more information and a full overview of Scrip Award categories and nominees, visit www.scripintelligence.com/awards/.