LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NASDAQ: SNTA) today announced that the first patients have been treated in two trials evaluating the company’s lead drug candidate, ganetespib, a selective and potent Hsp90 inhibitor, in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose tumors show rearrangement of the anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene (ALK+). The company-sponsored CHIARA trial (CHaperone Inhibition in Alk Rearranged lung cAncer) is evaluating ganetespib monotherapy administration in up to 110 patients from centers in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Asia. A trial sponsored by and conducted at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City is evaluating the combination of ganetespib and crizotinib (Xalkori®) in up to 55 patients. Both trials are enrolling patients who have not been previously treated with a direct ALK inhibitor, such as crizotinib.
