Poniard cuts staff, focuses on picoplatin

Following an announcement earlier this week that the company received a going-concern warning, Poniard Pharmaceuticals said today that it will concentrate its cash resources on the clinical and commercial development of its late-stage oncology candidate, picoplatin. The company is curtailing its preclinical research activities. As a result, Poniard will cut eight employees, or 12 percent of its staff. It will evaluate "strategic alternatives" for the preclinical programs it's cutting. The company did not say how much the cuts would extend its cash runway.

"Concentrating our resources on advancing our lead product candidate, picoplatin, currently in Phase II and III clinical trials for the treatment of lung, colorectal and prostate cancers, supports our goal of commercializing picoplatin in 2010, initially for the treatment of small cell lung cancer," said Jerry McMahon, chairman and CEO of Poniard. "We believe these measures will bring us closer to near-term success and build shareholder value."

- see Poniard's release [1]

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