A leading UK pharmaceutical firm says its range of ruthenium compound-based cancer therapies are performing at a higher level than ever before.

Medical Marketing International (MMI) says that new tests being performed on the ruthenium compounds show toxicity levels have been cut further, making the treatments among the safest cancer drugs currently available.

MMI's David Best, who is executive chairman at the firm, said the performance of the pgm-based treatment had been verified by independent laboratory tests undertaken by CXR Biosciences, stressing both the safety and the efficacy of the drug.

He explained: "Ruthenium is only one of MMI's portfolio of excellent drug candidates, but already data show it to be potentially the most effective drug against serious cancers like lung, colon and ovarian.

"This new data from CXR shows ruthenium to be potentially relatively safe too. If these results are confirmed in the clinical trials, then ruthenium may improve significantly on the standard treatment for cancer patients and become a major commercial success in a cancer therapy market that was worth $42 billion in 2004 and continues to grow in double-digit figures."

MMI says it will now aim to develop the ruthenium cancer therapies further, as it seeks to capitalise on a flourishing global market.