Fun in the sun with 'Barbie drug'

Sun-worshippers may be able to get that bronze tan without baking for hours in potentially lethal rays, and fight skin cancer at the same time, when a new drug implant hits the market in a few years.

The implants, containing the drug melanotan, are being developed by a biotech firm in Australia, which has the world's highest rate of skin cancer.

Dubbed the "Barbie drug", melanotan stimulates the production of the melanin pigment in the skin which causes tanning and helps to prevent damage from potentially cancer-causing rays.

"The melanin in the skin is your internal sunscreen - it has a protective rating," says Wayne Millen, chief executive of Melbourne's EpiTan, which is developing the drug.

"This is another bullet to fire in the war against skin cancer."

EpiTan expects melanotan to be ready for sale by 2005.

Melanotan is likely to be eagerly sought by people more interested in its ability to produce a coveted sunkissed look rather than any cancer-preventing properties.

A new phase of human clinical trials begins within weeks after earlier tests found that white-haired dogs and green frogs turned jet black when injected with the drug.

Users will eventually be able to have a matchstick-sized capsule implanted under the skin by a dermatologist to promote a summer-long glow and help to prevent the dangerous side-effects of tanning, Millen says.

EpiTan is working with the Southern Research Institute in Alabama and is considering a tie-up with a big pharmaceutical firm to distribute melanotan when it is ready for commercial use.

About 1000 Australians die each year from melanoma skin tumours.

- REUTERS

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