GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to elesclomol (formerly STA-4783) for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma. Elesclomol is being developed under a global collaboration agreement between Synta and GSK.

Elesclomol is a novel, injectable, investigational drug candidate that is believed to kill cancer cells by elevating oxidative stress levels beyond a breaking point, triggering programmed cell death. This mechanism of action, called oxidative stress induction, represents a novel way of selectively killing cancer cells. It is an investigational drug that is not approved for any indication in any market at this time.

This article was published in Drug Discovery & Development magazine: Vol. 11, No. 2, February, 2008, pp. 28.