MDX-010 goes it alone

The case for using Medarex Inc.'s MDX-010 antibody in combination cancer therapy has a sound rationale: The antibody blocks negative regulation of T cells, allowing an active immune response elicited by tumor vaccine therapy to continue unabated. But Medarex Inc. is betting that the compound also can bring to life the paltry anti-tumor immune responses that occur naturally in cancer patients.

Last week, the company began two Phase II trials of the anti-CTLA-4 antibody as monotherapy, one in metastatic melanoma and the other in hormone refractory prostate cancer. ...