methyl aminolevulinate methyl aminolevulinate methyl aminolevulinate (mal) is a drug used as a sensitizer in photodynamic therapy. it is a prodrug that is metabolized to protoporphyrin ix. it is marketed as metvix. methyl aminolevulinateclinical dataahfs/drugs.commultum consumer informationatc codel01xd03 (who) identifiers iupac name methyl 5-amino-4-oxopentanoate cas number33320-16-0 ypubchem cid157922drugbankdb00992 ychemspider13180320 yunii585nm85kymchemblchembl1096562 ncomptox dashboard (epa)dtxsid3048570 chemical and physical dataformulac6h11no3molar mass145.158 g·mol−13d model (jsmol)interactive image smiles o=c(cc(n)c(=o)oc)c inchi inchi=1s/c6h11no3/c1-4(8)3-5(7)6(9)10-2/h5h,3,7h2,1-2h3 ykey:flqhiivxmkxkft-uhfffaoysa-n y ny (what is this?) (verify) metvix cream is applied topically and some time later the skin is illuminated with a proprietary red light (630 nm) source (medical lamp 'aktilite') to activate the photosensitiser. metvix is developed by photocure and galderma has bought all rights to metvix. approvals and indications interim result of phototherapy for actinic keratosis with metvix one week after exposure. patient has light skin and blue eyes. methyl aminolevulinate is approved in new zealand for treatment of basal cell carcinoma. it is now approved in many countries and has been used to treat non-melanoma skin cancer (including basal cell carcinoma). it has some advantages over levulan. it has been reported as controversial in some quarters, with severe pain allegedly being experienced by some patients.