Genta Inc. released the results from a pilot study on advanced melanoma incorporating the Company’s cancer drug Genasense(R) (oblimersen sodium). This study was featured earlier this week in a presentation at the World Meeting of Interdisciplinary Melanoma/Skin Cancer Centers in Berlin, Germany, an international conference organized every year by a co-leader of the AGENDA trial, the European Association of Dermatologic Oncology (EADO).

Genasense, delivered for the first time in a high-dose, 1-hour intravenous (IV) format, was used along with the most common melanoma drug temozolomide (Temodar(R); Schering Plough, Inc.), and a paclitaxel suspension (Abraxane(R); Abraxis Bioscience, Inc.). Using a standard dose and schedule of Genasense, 500 mg over 24 hours for 7 days, showed good tolerability for 18 patients and was associated with clinical activity in prior results using this investigational combination of drugs.

Genasense, administered in this more aggressive schedule (1-hour IV twice a week for 4 weeks at 900 mg