What is "elesclomol"

n. A drug that triggers apoptosis in cancer cells.

Elesclomol ( INN, codenamed STA-4783) is a drug that triggers apoptosis (programmed cell death) in cancer cells. It is being developed by Synta Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKline as a chemotherapy adjuvant, and has received both fast track and orphan drug status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic melanoma. Synta Pharmaceuticals announced on February 26, 2009 the suspension of all clinical trials involving Elesclomol due to safety concerns. In March 2010, Synta announced that the FDA had approved resuming clinical development of elesclomol, and that they expected to initiate one or more clinical trials for elesclomol in the second half of the year.

In a small, randomized phase II study, elesclomol was shown to significantly increase progression-free survival in people with metastatic melanoma when given in addition to paclitaxel (Taxol).