Millennium Reports Positive Results From Cancer Drug

ORLANDO, Fla. -- One of the reasons close attention is paid to the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology is to hear from companies that are developing entirely new ways of fighting cancer. Monday, it's Millennium Pharmaceuticals' (MLNM Quote) turn in the spotlight.

The Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech firm is developing the first proteasome inhibitor, dubbed MLN341, for use against cancer. More on how the drug works later, first the positive results from a Phase II clinical trial: MLN341 was able to significantly reduce the amount of cancerous material in the blood, known as the tumor burden, in some patients with very advanced stages of multiple myeloma, a common blood cancer. ...