Poniard slapped with going-concern warning

With its R&D expenses shooting up and its lead program in clinical trials, South San Francisco-based Poniard Pharmaceuticals was handed a going-concern warning by its auditors. Poniard lost about $14 million in the fourth quarter, but says it has enough cash to fund operations at least into the first quarter of 2010.

A big part of Poniard's future rests on the outcomes of clinical trials for picoplatin, which is intended to overcome platinum resistance associated with chemotherapy in solid tumors. The drug is in a late-stage trial for small cell lung cancer and a Phase II trial in metastatic colorectal cancer and castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Poniard entered 2009 with $72.8 million in cash and securities.

- check out Poniard's release for more

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