RXi Pharmaceuticals receives orphan drug designation for Samcyprone

US biotech company RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Nasdaq: RXII) has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the US Food and Drug Administration for its second clinical candidate, Samcyprone, for the treatment of Malignant Melanoma Stage IIb to IV.

A number of patients with Stage IIb to IV malignant melanoma develop cutaneous metastases. Samcyprone is being developed for treatment of these metastases. Samcyprone is a topical formulation of Diphenylcylcopropenone (DPCP) in clinical development for the treatment of warts, alopecia areata and cutaneous metastases of melanoma. The mechanism of action for treatment cutaneous metastases of melanoma involves elicitation of an immune response in the skin that subsequently causes destruction of the cutaneous tumor.

Melanomas, cancers that arise from melanocytes, are the most aggressive form of skin cancer. Once melanoma has spread beyond the localized area of the primary lesion, the survival rate decreases and melanoma becomes increasingly more difficult to treat successfully. Management of metastatic melanoma, including cutaneous metastases, is challenging and represents an area of great unmet need.