Poniard cancer news
Poniard said it hired Leerink Swann to seek strategic alternatives, including financing, merger, sale or partnership, and plans to restructure and reduce headcount by 10 (45%) to 12, effective April 30. The move follows the company's decision to suspend efforts seeking approval for picoplatin in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). The cuts will come from positions related to submitting an NDA.
Poniard said it will continue to develop picoplatin in SCLC, as well as colorectal, prostate and ovarian cancers. Last November, the platinum-based chemotherapy agent missed the primary endpoint of improving overall survival in the Phase III SPEAR trial in patients with platinum-refractory or resistant SCLC. Poniard licensed exclusive rights to picoplatin from AnorMed Inc., now part of Genzyme Corp. (NASDAQ:GENZ; Cambridge, Mass.) (see BioCentury, Nov. 23, 2009). ...