Seattle Genetics ahead of schedule with cancer drug

Most biotech and pharma companies struggle to enroll patients in clinical trials, but not Seattle Genetics. The company, which is testing an antibody to treat Hodgkin's disease, is enrolling trials of the drug so quickly that it's six months ahead of schedule, according to a piece in Xconomy. SG has achieved this feat due to the fact that there's a lack of treatment options available for people with Hodgkin's disease. The company got a boost from oncologists at ASCO when it presented data demonstrating brentuximab vedotin (previously known as SGN-35) reduced or eliminated tumors in 12 of 38 patients tested.

The company now says that brentuximab vedotin could reach the market as early as 2011. If approved, the drug would be the first new drug in 30 years for Hodgkin's and other lymphomas.

- read the Xconomy report

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