Poniard Pharmaceuticals Announces New Efficacy and Safety Data from a Phase 2 Picoplatin Trial in Patients with Prost...( - New Progression-Free Survival Data ...)

- New Progression-Free Survival Data Support Picoplatin in Combination with Docetaxel/Prednisone as First-Line Therapy for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer -

- Results To Be Presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2009 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium -

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Feb. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PARD), a biopharmaceutical company focused on innovative oncology therapies, today announced the presentation of new efficacy and safety data from its ongoing Phase 2 clinical trial of picoplatin in combination with docetaxel and prednisone as first-line therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). Results showed that the combination is active as first-line therapy for metastatic CRPC (also known as hormone-refractory prostate cancer) as demonstrated by prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, time to PSA progression and radiologic response rates. Results also continue to show that picoplatin can be safely administered with full-doses of docetaxel and prednisone, the standard treatment for CRPC.

"The time to PSA progression data along with high rates of PSA response in this ongoing Phase 2 trial are encouraging and suggest potential clinical benefit when picoplatin is combined with docetaxel and prednisone as a first-line therapy for patients with CRPC," said William K. Oh, M.D., clinical director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and associate professor, Harvard Medical School. "While awaiting final data from this trial, I believe that the updated results reported to date warrant consideration of a Phase 3 clinical trial to compare picoplatin with docetaxel and prednisone to docetaxel and prednisone alone in metastatic CRPC patients, a group of men with
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