Telik, Inc. announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted fast track designation for Telcyta (TLK286) for third line therapy for locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. The FDA previously granted fast track designation for Telcyta for third line therapy in patients with platinum refractory or resistant ovarian cancer.

Fast track programs are designed to facilitate the development and expedite the review of new drugs that demonstrate the potential to treat serious or life-threatening conditions and address unmet medical needs.

Lung cancer results in 28 per cent of all cancer deaths in the US, and it is the leading cause of cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). The ACS estimates that 171,900 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in 2003 and an estimated 157,200 deaths will result from the disease.

Telik, Inc. of Palo Alto, California is a biopharmaceutical company working to discover, develop and commercialize small molecule drugs to treat serious diseases for which there is significant demand for new therapies.