US orphan status for Seattle's SGN-33; 35

The US Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug designation to USA-based Seattle Genetics' SGN-33 for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and to SGN-35 for the treatment of Hodgkin's disease.

"SGN-33 and SGN-35 both target diseases with significant unmet medical needs and represent opportunities for well-tolerated biologics that provide improved treatment options for patients," said Clay Siegall, chief executive, noting: "we are aggressively pursuing the development of SGN-33, and expect to advance into two combination clinical trials during 2007, including a Phase II study in combination with low-dose chemotherapy for older patients with AML. With SGN-35, we are conducting an ongoing Phase I dose-escalation study with plans to report data at the ASH annual meeting in December 2007."