CHIRON INITIATES SKIN CANCER DRUG TRIAL

Chiron has initiated a Phase I clinical trial of its investigational drug CHIR-265, a selective Raf kinase inhibitor, in patients with skin cancer.

The single-agent, open-label study is designed to evaluate the safety, dose tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of CHIR-265 in patients with melanoma -- a type of skin cancer.

Preclinical data suggest that CHIR-265 has both direct anti-proliferative/pro-apoptotic activity on tumor cells as well as anti-angiogenic activity that targets the tumor blood supply.