Pain Therapeutics has received approval from the Ministry of Health in Israel to begin human testing of a new treatment for metastatic melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.
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Californian biopharmaceutical company Pain Therapeutics’ initial phase I study is designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of a proprietary radio-labeled monoclonal antibody in patients diagnosed with metastatic melanoma. The company expects to initiate this first-in-human phase I study in a limited number of patients in Q2 2007 across several major academic medical centers in Israel.
“It is common knowledge that patients with this type of cancer have limited treatment options,” said Nadav Friedmann, chief operating and medical officer of Pain Therapeutics. “We hope the evaluation of this agent in the clinic replicates the promising activity we saw in preclinical studies.”
According to the American Cancer Society, melanoma accounts for approximately 5% of all skin cancers but causes about 75% of all skin cancer-related deaths. The last drug to treat patients with melanoma was approved by the FDA 30 years ago.