• Access Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Dallas, continued to expand the number of clinical trial sites to 11 for its ongoing Phase II trial of ProLindac, a DACH platinum prodrug in patients with recurrent platinum-sensitive ovarian cancer. The additional sites allow for the potential of more rapid patient accrual.

• Human Genome Sciences Inc., of Rockville, Md., reported results from its first Phase I trial of HGS-ETR1 (mapatumumab) demonstrating that the drug could be administered safety and repetitively to 49 patients with advanced solid malignancies. Based on those initial results, which were published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, HGS initiated a broad clinical program that includes Phase II trials of HGS-ETR1 as a single agent in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer, colorectal cancer and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The company also is conducting Phase Ib studies of the drug in combination with chemotherapy.

• SuperGen Inc., of Dublin, Calif., said the FDA cleared MP470, an oral, multitargeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to begin clinical development. The company will begin a Phase I study, involving up to 30 patients with advanced stage solid tumor cancers, to determine safety and tolerability and to determine the maximum tolerated dose. The trial also will collect pharmacokinetic and biomarker data. The receipt of FDA clearance triggers a $10 million milestone payment, to be paid in SuperGen stock, to the shareholders of Montigen Pharmaceuticals Inc., which SuperGen acquired last year. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 30, 2006.)

• VioQuest Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Basking Ridge, N.J., said it will proceed later this year with Phase II trials of VQD-002, a direct inhibitor of Akt activation. Akt is a serine-threonine kinase that is overexpressed and or hyperactivated in resistant and refractory tumors, as well as in aggressive hematologic malignancies. Ongoing trials in patients with refractory leukemia and solid tumors are expected to complete Phase I enrollment in June, with a Phase IIa expansion study in each trial starting immediately thereafter in patients with a variety of resistant/refractory solid tumors and leukemias.