Actelion will not develop Tracleer for melanoma

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drug maker Actelion said on Monday it would not develop its bosentan medicine, sold as Tracleer, as a treatment for metastatic melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

Actelion said in a statement on Monday that preliminary efficacy data generated in the proof-of-concept study evaluating bosentan in metastatic melanoma did not support a full clinical development program.

Bosentan is sold as Tracleer as a treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension, a rare form of high-blood pressure. The firm said it would continue studying whether the medicine could be effective in other forms of cancer.

(Reporting by Tom Armitage)