Gloucester Drug Shrinks Tumors in Lymphoma Study

Luke Timmerman12/8/08

Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held biotech company in Cambridge, MA, said today that its experimental drug romidepsin reached its goal in a Phase II clinical trial of patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. Researchers at Stanford Cancer Center found 30 of 72 patients (42 percent) had their tumors completely or partially go away, according to research presented at the American Society of Hematology meeting in San Francisco. A second study sponsored by the National Cancer Institute supported the finding with a 40 percent tumor response rate. The company anticipates filing an application by year’s end with the FDA to begin marketing the product. About 1,500 people are diagnosed with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma in the U.S. each year, according to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Luke Timmerman is the National Biotech Editor of Xconomy, and the Editor of Xconomy Seattle. E-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ldtimmerman.