Orphan-drug designation has just been granted for the platinum compound drug picoplatin.

The drug produced by Poniard Pharmaceuticals, formally NeoRx, has received orphan-drug status for the treatment of small cell lung cancer (SCLC), according to CancerConsultants.com.

Orphan-drug designation is designed to promote the development of drugs that may otherwise prove unprofitable for drugs companies to pursue, owing to the small number of patients that would benefit from it.

Picoplatin is designed to overcome platinum resistance in cancer patients and is the subject of an ongoing phase II study evaluating its efficacy in platinum-resistant or refractory SCLC.

The trial is presently open to enrolment in the United States and Canada.

The drug is a new generation intravenous platinum therapy and was specifically designed to improve on the safety and efficacy of existing platinum therapeutics for cancer.

According to its developer, picoplatin has shown activity in platinum-sensitive, resistant and refractory cancers with no evidence of significant kidney or nerve toxicity to date.

Platinum products are a well established cancer treatment and are often used in combination with targeted cancer therapies. Platinum drugs bind DNA and interfere with DNA replication and transcription, but current treatments have problems such as toxicity and resistance development in some patients.

Ÿ Adfero Ltd