Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:PARD) jumped 22% today after the company reported that it will resume its efforts in seeking regulatory for experimental cancer drug candidate, picoplatin. Ronald A. Martell, chief executive officer of Poniard said: "The data generated to date underscore picoplatin's potential efficacy and safety in a variety of solid tumors, and we are currently developing registration strategies for picoplatin in lung, colorectal, prostate and ovarian cancers. Concurrent with this effort, we are continuing to explore strategic alternatives to support and optimize the value of the picoplatin program for our shareholders."
In a separate release today the company announced that data from the Phase 3 SPEAR trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of picoplatin as a second-line treatment in small cell lung cancer (SCLC) has been accepted for an oral presentation during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2010 Annual Meeting.
"We believe the SPEAR trial, one of the largest second-line SCLC trials conducted in the world, provides valuable clinical insights that can be used to further the study of treatments for small cell lung cancer," said Ronald A. Martell, chief executive officer of Poniard Pharmaceuticals. "The SPEAR data adds to the growing body of clinical evidence that we believe supports the value proposition of picoplatin as an attractive, late-stage, highly versatile anticancer compound that has demonstrated efficacy and safety in a variety of solid tumor types."
Shares of Poniard jumped 23 cents to close the day at $1.27.
