Ligand Reports Strong Trial Results for Gel

San Diego-based Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced positive results from a large trial of its topical gel for treating AIDS-related skin cancers. The results came from the last stage of trials required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in applications for new medical products. Ligand said that it planned to file an FDA application in the first quarter of next year to use the gel, known as Panretin, in treating Kaposi’s sarcoma skin lesions. Ligand shares were unchanged at $13.88 in Nasdaq trading. The North American study showed 35% of patients who used Panretin had a complete or partial improvement of their lesions, as compared with only 17.9% of patients using a placebo, Ligand said. “If approved, Panretin will likely be the first topical treatment approved for this disfiguring and debilitating disease,” said David Robinson, chairman, president and chief executive of Ligand. An earlier international trial of the drug was halted this summer because the results were so good that the company ended the study and placed all patients who had been using a placebo onto the Panretin gel.