February 09, 2012

PONIARD PHARMACEUTICALS APPOINTS FOUR NEW MEMBERS TO CLINICAL ADVISORY BOARD

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: PARD), a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology, today announced the appointment of four additional members to its Clinical Advisory Board to help guide the Company's expanding clinical development strategy for picoplatin. They include Howard A. Burris, III, M.D., of The Sarah Cannon Research Institute in Nashville; E. David Crawford, M.D., of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center; Robert F. Ozols, M.D., Ph.D., of the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia; and Everett E. Vokes, M.D., of the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

These esteemed physicians will add to the already broad expertise of the Company's Clinical Advisory Board and bring an understanding of a wide variety of tumor types, including prostate, breast, ovarian, head and neck and lung cancers, to inform the development of picoplatin. Picoplatin, the Company's lead product candidate, is a new generation platinum chemotherapy agent with the potential to address multiple indications, combinations and formulations.

"These renowned physicians are experts in several different indications and will provide strategic input into our clinical development program for picoplatin, which is being developed as a platform product with broad applicability across multiple solid tumor types," said Robert De Jager, M.D., chief medical officer of Poniard.

The new Clinical Advisory Board members join existing members Paul J. Bunn, Jr., M.D., of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center; Alan B. Glassberg, former associate director of clinical care and former director of general oncology at the University of California, San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center; Richard Goldberg, M.D., of the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; and Eric J. Small, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco.

    New Clinical Advisory Board Members

    -- Howard A. (Skip) Burris, III, M.D., is chief medical officer and
       director of drug development at The Sarah Cannon Research Institute in
       Nashville, where he is also an associate with Tennessee Oncology, PLLC.
       Dr. Burris' research interests focus on developing investigational
       agents and evaluating these compounds in Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials.
       He has published papers on taxanes and topoisomerase I inhibitors. He
       currently serves on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
       Board of Directors and is a member of ASCO's Ethics Committee. He
       received his medical degree from the University of South Alabama and
       completed his residency and fellowship in hematology/oncology at Brooke
       Army Medical Center in San Antonio. While there, he served as director
       of clinical research at the Institute for Drug Development of The
       Cancer Therapy and Research Center and was an associate professor at
       The University of Texas Health Science Center.

    -- E. David Crawford, M.D., is the E. David Crawford distinguished
       professor of surgery, urology and radiation oncology, and head of the
       Section of Urologic Oncology at the University of Colorado Health
       Sciences Center in Denver. He also serves as the senior associate
       director of the University of Colorado Comprehensive Cancer Center in
       Denver. Dr. Crawford, the recipient of nearly 70 research grants, has
       conducted research in the treatment of advanced bladder cancer,
       metastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate, hormone refractory prostate
       cancer, and other areas of urological infections and malignancies. He
       has authored or co-authored more than 450 articles published in
       peer-reviewed journals and has published five textbooks and authored
       more than 50 book chapters. He is an editorial reviewer or consultant
       for many publications, including Urology, Journal of Urology, The New
       England Journal of Medicine, Cancer and the Journal of Clinical
       Oncology. Dr. Crawford is a member of the American Urological
       Association (AUA), for which he was a member of the Prostate Cancer
       Clinical Trials Subcommittee. He currently serves on the board of
       governors, the GU committee, and the scientific advisory board of the
       Southwest Oncology Group and chairs the National Prostate Cancer
       Education Council. He received his medical degree from the University
       of Cincinnati and completed an internship and residency in urology at
       the Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati. He completed a genitourinary
       cancer fellowship at the University of California Medical Center in Los
       Angeles.

    -- Robert F. Ozols, M.D., Ph.D., is senior vice president of Fox Chase
       Cancer Center in Philadelphia, where he oversees all of the Center's
       patient care, clinical research and medical science laboratory
       research. Internationally recognized for his expertise in ovarian
       cancer, Dr. Ozols' research focuses on how cancer cells develop
       resistance to anticancer drugs and on developing new chemotherapy
       regimens for ovarian cancer. He previously served on the Oncologic
       Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) of the Food and Drug Administration. He
       is a former vice president of the International Gynecologic Cancer
       Society and served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of
       Clinical Oncology and the American Association of Cancer Institutes. He
       is past chair of ASCO's Cancer Research Committee and of the Cancer
       Communications Committee. He is the author of many scientific
       publications and has served on the editorial boards of the
       International Journal of Gynecologic Cancer, International Journal of
       Oncology, Cancer Research, Cancer Investigation, Journal of
       Experimental Therapeutics and Oncology and Clinical Cancer Research. He
       earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry, Ph.D. and M.D. from the
       University of Rochester. He completed his medical training at
       Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and a medical oncology fellowship at
       the National Cancer Institute.

    -- Everett E. Vokes, M.D., is the John E. Ultmann Professor of Medicine
       and Radiation and Cellular Oncology at the University of Chicago
       Pritzker School of Medicine; director of the Section of
       Hematology/Oncology; vice chairman for clinical research in the
       Department of Medicine; director of the head and neck oncology program;
       and deputy director of the University of Chicago Cancer Research
       Center. He serves as chair of the Cancer and Leukemia Group B,
       Respiratory Core Committee.  He is the recipient of numerous research
       grants and has authored more than 300 publications in peer-reviewed
       journals. He received his medical degree from the University of Bonn
       Medical School in West Germany and completed his residency at
       Ravenswood Hospital in Chicago and at the University of Southern
       California in Los Angeles. He completed a fellowship in
       hematology/oncology at the University of Chicago.

About Poniard Pharmaceuticals

Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative oncology products to impact the lives of people with cancer. Picoplatin, the Company's lead platform product candidate, is a new generation platinum therapy with an improved safety profile relative to existing platinum-based cancer therapies. Picoplatin is designed to overcome platinum resistance associated with chemotherapy in solid tumors, and is being studied in multiple cancer indications, combinations and formulations. Clinical trials of intravenous picoplatin include a Phase 3 trial in small cell lung cancer and Phase 2 trials in metastatic colorectal and hormone-refractory prostate cancers, as well as a clinical trial of oral picoplatin in solid tumors. Picoplatin has not been approved by any regulatory authority for use in humans. For additional information please visit http://www.poniard.com.

This release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company's business objectives and strategic goals, drug development plans, results of clinical trials and the potential safety and efficacy of its products in development. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those indicated in these forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's research and development activities; the results of pre-clinical and clinical testing; the receipt and timing of required regulatory approvals; the market's acceptance of the Company's proposed products; the Company's anticipated operating losses, need for future capital and ability to obtain future funding; competition from third parties; the Company's ability to preserve and protect intellectual property rights; the Company's dependence on third-party manufacturers and suppliers; the Company's lack of sales and marketing experience; the Company's ability to attract and retain key personnel; changes in technology, government regulation and general market conditions; and the risks and uncertainties described in the Company's current and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2008. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

(C) 2008 Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Poniard and Poniard Pharmaceuticals are trademarks of Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

SOURCE Poniard Pharmaceuticals, Inc.