Morphotek, a subsidiary of Eisai, has begun enrolling patients with advanced melanoma on a Phase I clinical study of MORAb-028.

MORAb-028 is a fully human recombinant IgM-type antibody, which binds to GD2, a cell-surface ganglioside expressed on cells associated with melanoma, small cell lung carcinoma and other types of cancer.

Pre-clinical scientific evidence suggests that antibodies that target GD2 may suppress the tumour growth.

Morphotek chief medical officer Martin D Phillips said that MORAb-028 represents one of several antibodies being researched and developed by the company that directly or indirectly targets pathways associated with certain cancers.