Profile: Ariad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARIA.O)

ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARIAD) is a biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of medicines to treat cancers by regulating cell signaling with small molecules. The Company’s lead cancer product candidate, deforolimus, is an internally discovered, potent inhibitor of the protein mTOR, a master switch in cancer cells. Blocking mTOR creates a starvation-like effect in cancer cells by interfering with cell growth, division, metabolism and angiogenesis. Its second product candidate, AP24534, is a multi-targeted kinase inhibitor that has potential applications in cancer and is wholly owned by the Company. The company also focused drug discovery program centered on small-molecule therapies, molecularly targeted to cell-signaling pathways implicated in cancer. It also developed a portfolio of cell-signaling regulation technologies, its ARGENT technology, to control intracellular processes with small molecules, which may be useful in the development of therapeutic vaccines and gene and cell therapy products and which provide versatile tools for applications in cell biology, functional genomics and drug discovery research. ARIAD distributes its ARGENT technologies.

Deforolimus

The Company is developing deforolimus in partnership with Merck & Co., Inc. (Merck), under a collaboration agreement. The collaboration agreement provides that it together with Merck conducts a broad-based development program in multiple potential indications. During the year ended December 31, 2008, the Company and Merck initiated Phase II clinical trials of oral deforolimus in patients with endometrial, breast and prostate cancers, and Phase I studies of deforolimus in combination with other agents, all as part of its global development plan.

AP24534

In preclinical studies, AP24534 demonstrated potent inhibition of Bcr-Abl, a kinase that causes chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), as well as mutants of this kinase, including the T315I mutant. In preclinical studies, AP24534 was also shown to inhibit Flt3, a kinase involved in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), as well as kinases that control angiogenesis, or new blood vessel formation, a process important in the progression of multiple solid tumors. AP24534 has undergone preclinical testing, including efficacy and safety assessment studies. In 2008, the Company initiated a Phase I clinical trial of AP24534 in patients with refractory CML, AML and other hematological malignancies.

The Company competes with Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, Genentech, Inc., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Hoffmann LaRoche & Co., Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., Inc., Merck KGaA, Novartis AG, Pfizer, Inc., Wyeth Corp, Biogen-Idec, Inc., Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc.