Poniard Pharmaceuticals Announces Final Picoplatin Data from Phase 2 Small Cell Lung Cancer Trial Demonstrating Surviv...( - Final Safety and Efficacy Data Pre...),Health

- Final Safety and Efficacy Data Presented at 1st IASLC-ESMO European Lung

Cancer Conference -

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PARD), a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, today announced that final efficacy results from its Phase 2 clinical trial of picoplatin confirming previously announced interim results showing a survival benefit in patients with recurrent small cell lung cancer (SCLC) who have failed prior platinum-containing first-line chemotherapy or who have progressed within six months of first-line therapy. The median overall survival rate was 27 weeks and both this efficacy and the safety profile compares favorably with current medical treatments which often include palliative best supportive care. Best supportive care has been shown previously to have a median overall survival of 14 weeks and is the comparator arm for the ongoing randomized Phase 3 trial to evaluate picoplatin treatment in this patient setting. The final data were presented during a poster discussion session at the 1st European Lung Cancer (IASLC) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).

"These final Phase 2 data show that picoplatin extended survival in patients with small cell lung cancer refractory to, or relapsing within 6 months of first-line platinum based chemotherapy," said Robert De Jager, M.D., chief medical officer of Poniard. "Based on promising results from this trial, we initiated our ongoing Phase 3 SPEAR trial in small cell lung cancer. We are targeting commercialization of picoplatin for use in SCLC in 2010. We are committed to developing picoplatin as a new generation chemotherapy agent addressing multiple i
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