Array BioPharma Receives Phase 2 Milestone Payment From AstraZeneca

    BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Array BioPharma Inc.
 (Nasdaq:   ARRY) today announced that it received a $3 million payment from
 AstraZeneca (NYSE:   AZN) for achieving a Phase 2 milestone for AZD6244
 (ARRY-142886). The payment was triggered upon dosing the first patient in a
 Phase 2 trial. AZD6244 (ARRY-142886) is a selective MEK inhibitor that was
 in-licensed by AstraZeneca from Array in December 2003.
     The previously announced Phase 2 randomized study will compare AZD6244
 (ARRY-142886) to temozolomide in the treatment of stage III / IV melanoma
 patients. AstraZeneca expects to enroll up to 180 patients at approximately
 40 centers worldwide. Additional Phase 2 studies, in a range of other
 tumors, are scheduled to start this year.
     Initiation of the Phase 2 study is based on the results of the Phase 1b
 study which recently completed recruitment, and which included patients
 with melanoma and a variety of other solid tumors. The Phase 1 study
 clearly demonstrated that AZD6244 (ARRY-142886) inhibits MEK and associated
 downstream markers in tumors at doses deemed well tolerated. The full
 results of this study will be published later in the year.
     Array was responsible for filing the IND and conducting the Phase 1
 clinical testing of AZD6244 (ARRY-142886). AstraZeneca is responsible for
 all other aspects of clinical development and commercialization.
     About the Collaboration:
     AstraZeneca acquired exclusive worldwide rights to AZD6244 and certain
 second-generation compounds for all oncology indications in December 2003.
 Array retains the rights to all therapeutic indications outside of oncology
 for compounds not selected by AstraZeneca as part of the collaboration.
     About AZD6244 (ARRY-142886)
     AZD6244 (ARRY-142886) is a potent, selective MEK inhibitor that is
 orally active, that blocks signal transduction pathways implicated in
 cancer cell proliferation and survival. AZD6244 (ARRY-142886) has shown
 tumour suppressive activity in multiple pre-clinical models of human cancer
 including melanoma, pancreatic, colon, lung, and breast cancers.
     About MEK Inhibition
     MEK is a critical enzyme at the intersection of several biological
 pathways, which regulates cell proliferation and survival as part of the
 Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway. Activation of the Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK pathway has been
 implicated in many cancers, including lung, pancreatic, colon, melanoma and
 thyroid cancer. MEK inhibition is an attractive anti-cancer strategy as it
 has the potential to block inappropriate signal transduction regardless of
 the upstream position of the oncogenic aberration.
     About Melanoma
     More than 80,000 people are diagnosed with malignant melanoma each
 year, approximately 20% of them with advanced disease. Current treatments
 for advanced melanoma offer little survival benefit and are associated with
 considerable toxicities for the majority of patients. The outlook for
 patients with metastatic disease is poor with median survival time of
 between 6-12 months and a 5-year survival rate of approximately 10%. There
 is a great need for new and effective treatments for advanced melanoma that
 can extend the life of patients and improve their quality of life while
 receiving treatment by reducing the burden of toxicities associated with
 today's treatments.
     About AstraZeneca
     AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the
 research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription
 pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the
 world's leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of $23.95
 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular,
 neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection products. AstraZeneca is
 listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the
 FTSE4Good Index. For further information please visit
 www.astrazenecapressoffice.com.
     About Array BioPharma
     Array BioPharma is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the
 discovery, development and commercialization of orally active drugs to
 address significant unmet medical needs. Our proprietary drug development
 pipeline is primarily focused on the treatment of cancer and inflammatory
 disease and includes several small molecule drug candidates that are
 designed to regulate targets in therapeutically important biologic
 pathways. We currently have three drugs in clinical development including
 our MEK inhibitor for cancer, AZD6244 (ARRY-142886), which is in Phase 2
 with AstraZeneca, and two Array wholly-owned drugs in Phase 1: ARRY-543,
 our ErbB-2 / EGFR inhibitor for cancer, and ARRY-162, our MEK inhibitor for
 inflammatory disease. For more information on Array, please go to
 www.arraybiopharma.com.
     Array BioPharma's Forward-Looking Statement
     This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
 meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that
 involve significant risks and uncertainties, including those discussed in
 our annual report filed on form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2006, and
 in other reports filed by Array with the Securities and Exchange
 Commission. Because these statements reflect our current expectations
 concerning future events, our actual results could differ materially from
 those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of many
 factors. These factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to
 continue to fund and successfully progress internal research efforts and to
 create effective, commercially viable drugs, our ability to achieve and
 maintain profitability, the extent to which the pharmaceutical and
 biotechnology industries are willing to in-license drug candidates for
 their product pipelines and to collaborate with and fund third parties on
 their drug discovery activities, our ability to out-license our proprietary
 candidates on favorable terms, risks associated with our dependence on our
 collaborators for the clinical development and commercialization of our
 out-licensed drug candidates, the ability of our collaborators and of Array
 to meet objectives tied to milestones and royalties, and our ability to
 attract and retain experienced scientists and management. We are providing
 this information as of September 14, 2006. We undertake no duty to update
 any forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of events or
 circumstances after the date of such statements or of anticipated or
 unanticipated events that alter any assumptions underlying such statements.
 
 

SOURCE Array BioPharma Inc.