Gammacan considering more studies of IVIg in treatment of melanoma

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Jan. 30 - Gammacan International announced Monday that it is considering an additional clinical trial to demonstrate clinical efficacy of hyperimmune intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg), sourced from a specific population, for treating melanoma, a common and serious skin cancer.

The company is in a phase 2 clinical trial using its GCAN-101 for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, prostate and colon cancers, according to a company news release.

Although melanoma accounts for only 4% of all skin cancers, it accounts for more than 70% of all skin cancer deaths, and the patient population is steadily increasing, officials said.

And the Melanoma Research Foundation said no significant advances in medical therapies (or survival) for patients with advanced melanoma have occurred in the past 30 years.

"We believe that the existing research results regarding the use of IVIg for treatment of Melanoma provide sufficient incentive to advance to a clinical stage the efficacy of IVIg sourced from a specific population for the treatment of malignant melanoma," Vered Caplan, chief executive officer, said in the release. "Expanding our pipeline of IVIg-based therapies and targeting specific cancers where little therapeutic benefit has been seen is key to the company's growth and to patients suffering from such devastating diseases."

Gammacan is a Givat Shmuel, Israel, biopharmaceutical company focusing on commercialization of a revolutionary anti-cancer immunotherapy that the company said it believes will be proven to be effective in reducing the metastatic spread of a wide range of cancers. The treatment is based on IVIg, a safe, relatively non-toxic human plasma-based product currently used to treat a variety of immune deficiencies and autoimmune diseases.

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