[Avista]

This is interesting:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a first-of-its kind drug for the treatment of certain types of melanoma.

The Moffitt Cancer Center was the only institution in Florida that conducted a trial for the drug, vemurafenib, a company statement said.

The drug, which has the brand name Zelboraf, was approved for treating metastic melanoma patients who test positive for a gene mutation called BRAFV600E. The mutant BRAF protein is found in about half of all cases of melanoma, the most lethal form of skin cancer, the statement said.

Dr. Jeffrey Weber, director of the Donald A. Adam Comprehensive Melanoma Research Center at Moffitt, was an investigator on a Phase II student that enrolled 132 patients. The study showed that vemurafenib (pronounced vem-yoo-RAF-en-ib) shrank tumors in 52 percent of trial participants, and participants lived a media of 6.2 percent months without their disease getting worse, the statement said.

The drug is manufactured by Genentech, a member of the Roche Group (OTCQX: RHHBY). It’s expected to be available in the U.S. within two weeks of approval and will be distributed through specialty mail-order pharmacies, Genentech said.
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