Poniard Pharmaceuticals Announces Commercial Manufacturing Agreement With W. C. Heraeus GmbH for ...( SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO Calif. March ...),Health

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., March 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PARD), a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, announced an agreement with W. C. Heraeus GmbH for the commercial manufacture and supply of picoplatin active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). Poniard is investigating picoplatin, the Company's lead product candidate, in four clinical trials, including the ongoing pivotal Phase 3 trial in small cell lung cancer, and is developing picoplatin as a potential new platform product for the treatment of solid tumors.

"This agreement is a major step forward in the development of picoplatin as a commercial oncology product and to ensure that picoplatin is available to patients and oncologists once FDA approval is obtained," said Ronald Martell, president and chief operating officer of Poniard Pharmaceuticals. "Heraeus is a high-quality partner which will provide Poniard with access to large-scale production, and has the capacity to meet our production and quality goals. They are a leader in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, precious metals and synthesis chemistry."

Under the agreement, Heraeus will manufacture picoplatin API to meet cGMP requirements, and be ready to ship commercial quantities of picoplatin by 2009. Heraeus is the current manufacturer of picoplatin API for the Company's four ongoing clinical trials.

About Picoplatin

Picoplatin is a chemotherapeutic agent with an improved safety profile compared to existing platinum-based chemotherapeutics. It was designed to overcome platinum resistance associated with the treatment of solid tumors. Picoplatin has been evaluated in more than 750 patients and has anti-tumor activity in multiple indications, with
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