Chiroscience To Put Cancer Drugs In Clinic In 4Q97

Chiroscience shares moved up last week on the announcement that it wasstarting clinical trials of two potential cancer drugs in the fourth quarter of this year (Marketletter March 10).

These orally-active matrix metalloproteinase inhibitors - D1927 and D2163 - may have properties which distinguish them from British Biotech's marimastat (see page 27), currently leading the pack with Phase III trials ongoing. The rationale behind MMP inhibitors is that they do not kill tumors but prevent their growth and metastasis.

D1927 and D2163 have shown excellent results in animal testing, according to Chiroscience. The compounds are very selective for specific MMPs, but do not affect tumor necrosis factor or interleukin-1 release, which is believed to play a key role in the inflammation process and may lead to side effects.