( in chemotherapynaïve pat...)Pixantrone Granted Fast Track Designation by FDA for Relapsed,Indolent NHL Patients,Health

Fast Track Designation

Fast track designation means the FDA will facilitate and expedite the development and review of the application for the approval of a new drug if it is intended for the treatment of a serious or life-threatening condition and demonstrates the potential to address an unmet medical need. An expedited review as defined by the FDA user fee performance goals provides for a review within six months.

About Pixantrone

Pixantrone is an investigational agent under development for the potential treatment of various hematological malignancies, solid tumors and immunological disorders. It was developed to improve the activity and safety of the anthracycline family of anti-cancer agents. Anthracyclines have been shown to be very active clinically in a number of tumor types. However, they are usually associated with cumulative heart damage that prevents them from being used in a large proportion of patients. Pixantrone has been designed to reduce the potential for these severe cardiotoxicities, as well as to potentially increase activity and simplified administration compared to the currently marketed anthracyclines.

About Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Headquartered in Seattle, CTI is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing an integrated portfolio of oncology products aimed at making cancer more treatable. For additional information, please visit www.cticseattle.com .

This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, the outcome of which could materially and/or adversely affect actual future results. Specifically, the risks and uncertainties that could affect the development of pixantrone include risks associated with preclinical and clinical developments in the biopharmaceutical industry in general and with p
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