GPC Biotech AG has announced that it has recorded positive results from trials using its new platinum-based treatment for prostate cancer.

The drug, called Satraplatin, has been developed at the company's US headquarters in Waltham, and has yielded encouraging results during a small-scale trial.

A study of the drug by an Italian doctor showed that it slowed the progression of the cancer when it was used in combination with the synthetic hormone drug prednisone, a standard treatment often used to tackle advanced prostate cancer.

The trial, which only encompassed 50 patients, showed that the median survival time for patients on the combination therapy of satraplatin and prednisone was 15 months, an improvement of 25 per cent on the standard treatment.

The company hopes to begin the crucial third phase of the trial in the latter half of 2003.

Data from the trial will be used to file an application for market approval with the US Food and Drug Administration.