MADRID, Spain, October 4/PRNewswire/ -- PharmaMar announces today that PM02734, a marine derived compound, has begun Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of solid tumours.

PM02734 is a novel chemical entity resulting from PharmaMar's internal research program for derivatives of marine natural compounds. Produced synthetically in-house by PharmaMar, PM02734 is a new depsipeptide of the kahalalides family.

Preliminary in vitro in-house studies identified PM02734 as a new antiproliferative drug demonstrating activity against a broad spectrum of tumor types: breast, colon, pancreas, lung and prostate, among others. PM02734 has been selected for clinical development based on its in vivo activity in xenografted human tumors, as well as an acceptable non-clinical toxicology profile.

The new Phase I clinical trial of PM02734 is a multicenter, international (US and Europe) study designed to determine safety and tolerability and to identify the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) and recommended dose (RD) of PM02734 administered to patients with advanced malignant solid tumors.

Dr Carmen Cuevas, PharmaMar's R&D Director, said: "PM02734 is the second product we have taken into clinical trials this year, significantly ahead of our target of one new drug every two years and evidence of the increasing productivity of PharmaMar's research and development efforts."

For more on the clinical trials business, see The Clinical Trial Business (report), or for related reading, see Commercial Perspectives: Cytotoxics - Third-Generation Cytotoxics To Offset Taxol's Generic Woes.

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