• ImClone Systems Inc., of New York, opened patient enrollment in the first of its Phase II trials of IMC-1121B, a monoclonal antibody targeted to the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2). The study is expected to involve 36 patients with metastatic renal-cell carcinoma whose disease has progressed during therapy with an approved VEGFR-2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor or who have developed intolerance to those agents. IMC-1121B will be administered every two weeks by intravenous infusion. ImClone expects to begin additional studies over the next several months in various tumor types.

• MedImmune Inc., a Gaithersburg, Md., unit of AstraZeneca plc, said a Phase III trial of motavizumab (formerly known as Numax) showed the product reduced hospitalizations due to respiratory syncytial virus by 83 percent vs. placebo (8.3 percent in placebo arm vs. 1.4 percent for motavizumab; p<0.001), the trial's primary endpoint. In addition, the trial showed the monoclonal antibody resulted in a 71 percent reduction in the incidence of RSV-specific lower respiratory infections requiring outpatient management (p<0.001), a secondary endpoint. The Phase III trial involved 1,410 full-term infants younger than 6 months in two Native American populations. Data supported positive results seen in a Phase III pivotal trial comparing motavizumab and its approved product Synagis (palivizumab).