OXIGENE'S CA4P GETS SECOND ORPHAN DRUG DESIGNATION

The FDA has granted orphan-drug status to Combretastatin A4P (CA4P) for the treatment of ovarian cancer, OXiGENE has announced.

This is the second such designation for CA4P, a vascular disrupting agent that received orphan drug status for certain thyroid cancers in 2003. Early clinical trial results show a 67 percent response rate to a combination of CA4P and chemotherapy among women with advanced ovarian cancer who have previously failed cancer therapy.