Uvidem in Phase II Trial

SAN DIEGO, Nov. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- IDM Pharma, Inc.(Nasdaq: IDMI) announced today that it has initiated a Phase II clinical trialin Europe of its therapeutic vaccine Uvidem(R), under development incollaboration with Sanofi-Aventis, for the treatment of melanoma. The trial will recruit 50 patients with resected stage II or III melanomawho will be randomized to receive either Uvidem alone (25) or Uvidem combinedwith peginterferon alpha-2b (ViraferonPeg(R), Schering-Plough) (25).Peginterferon alpha-2b has been approved in Europe for the treatment ofhepatitis C, and is currently under development by Schering-Plough for thetreatment of melanoma. (full story here).

F.A.K. You!

Focal Adhesion Kinase, and learning how to target it, may well be the key to preventing the spread of malignant melanoma and several other cancers. Science Daily has the story here, on the research going on at Northwestern University.

Vaccine For Malignant Melanoma Under Study

Here's a website with information on vaccine trials for oncophage, a vaccine that could potentially stimulate the patient's immune system to fight melanoma.