Santhera Pharmaceuticals (SIX: SANN), a Swiss specialty pharmaceutical company focused on neuromuscular diseases, today announced preclinical data on a novel generation of melanocortin-4 (MC4) receptor antagonists for potential treatment of cancer cachexia (severe muscle wasting). The most advanced candidates significantly increase food intake in healthy animals and prevent cancer-induced body weight loss in disease-relevant models. In-vivo data will be presented today at the 2008 Research Conference on Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity & Cancer of the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) in Washington DC [1].
