ROCKVILLE, Md., Aug. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: HGSI) today announced that it has completed the enrollment and initial dosing of patients in a randomized Phase 2 trial of HGS-ETR1 (mapatumumab) in combination with the chemotherapy agents paclitaxel and carboplatin as first-line therapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

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'There is an urgent medical need for effective treatment options for non- small cell lung cancer because current treatment strategies have only a minimal impact on survival,' said Joachim von Pawel, M.D., a principal investigator in the study from the Asklepios Fachkliniken Munchen-Gauting, Germany. 'The majority of patients who are newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer have locally advanced or metastatic disease that is currently incurable. We look forward to evaluating the potential of mapatumumab plus chemotherapy to offer a new approach to the first-line treatment of this deadly disease.'

The NSCLC trial is a randomized, multi-center, open-label Phase 2 study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of HGS-ETR1 in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel as first-line therapy in the treatment of advanced non-small cell lung cancer (Stage IIIB or IV). 111 patients have been randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups and treated with either the two-agent combination of carboplatin and paclitaxel or the three-agent combination of carboplatin, paclitaxel, and HGS-ETR1 at either 10 mg/kg or 30 mg/kg. HGS announced the initiation of the NSCLC trial In December 2007.

'A growing body of preclinical data suggests that combining HGS-ETR1 with chemotherapy agents could be an effective approach to the treatment of a number of malignancies, including non-small cell lung cancer,' said Gilles Gallant, B. Pharm., Ph.D., Vice President, Clinical Research - Oncology, HGS. 'HGS-ETR1 is the most advanced of any product in development that targets the TRAIL apoptotic pathway.