A clinical trial of a GTx Inc. drug for muscle wasting in cancer patients shows benefits, according to a report the Memphis-based company released Thursday.

The drug, which is called Ostarine, could be the third new drug therapy the biopharmaceutical company will launch. The drugs being developed by GTx are selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) therapies, which are designed to work like testosterone.

The study results were announced Thursday at the 2009 Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society in Washington.

The Phase II clinical trial indicated that Ostarine treatment led to a significant increase in lean body mass and improvement in muscle performance, the company reported.

Dr. Adrian Dods, a professor from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was one of the investigators for the clinical trial.

“These Phase II results demonstrate the potential of a SARM to fill an important unmet need, as there are currently no FDA-approved therapies available for cancer cachexia (muscle wasting),” Dobs said in Thursday’s report.

Merck & Co. Inc. is collaborating with GTx on the drug therapy and providing funding for research.

An estimated 410,000 patients in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer cachexia each year, which is responsible for about 20 percent of cancer deaths, the company reported.

GTX expects to receive approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 30 to begin selling another drug to prevent bone fractures in men undergoing hormone therapy to treat prostate cancer. It also is conducting a Phase III clinical trial on a lower dose of the same drug to prevent prostate cancer in high-risk men.

GTx specializes in the discovery of small molecules that selectively target hormone pathways and using these discoveries in drug therapies.