( Phase III Clinical Data on Thalidomide ...)Adding Thalidomide to Standard Therapy Improves Survival in Newly,Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma Patients Over Age 75,Health

CHICAGO, June 04, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pharmion Corporation today reported the final results of a Phase III study demonstrating that the addition of Thalidomide to standard therapy improves overall survival (OS) by 17.6 months in patients aged 75 or older with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma compared to the current standard of care. These results were reported in an oral presentation at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago, Ill. (June 1-5, 2007). An additional two oral and six poster sessions on Thalidomide were also presented at the conference.

"These latest data on Thalidomide treatment in patients over the age of 75 are consistent with previous studies demonstrating Thalidomide's benefit in a first-line treatment setting," said Patrick J. Mahaffy, Pharmion's president and CEO. "We believe these data provide additional validation to those data already on file with the EMEA for Thalidomide in the treatment of newly-diagnosed myeloma, and also support its use in patients aged 75 years or older with myeloma, which represent more than 20 percent of the myeloma patient population."

The Phase III dual-arm randomized study compared overall survival in patients receiving standard therapy of melphalan and prednisone plus placebo (MP-placebo) or standard therapy plus Thalidomide (MP-T). A total of 232 patients were randomized to one of the two treatment arms and the results from 200 patients were available for presentation. In the final analysis, the median overall survival in the MP-T arm was 45.3 months, compared to 27.7 months for the MP-placebo (p=0.05 log-rank test).

Thalidomide was well tolerated by the majority of patients, but, in combination with other treatments, was associated with a higher incid
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