Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced that the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) that was submitted to the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) by Pharmion Corporation for satraplatin in combination with prednisone for the treatment of patients with metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer (HRPC) who have failed prior chemotherapy, has been accepted for review.

"We believe that, if approved, satraplatin will be an effective treatment option in an indication where there are few treatment options available," said Luigi Lenaz, chief scientific officer of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals. "We continue to identify, acquire and develop new and what we believe will be more effective, drug candidates for various forms of cancer and other life altering diseases, such as EOquin for non-invasive bladder cancer, ozarelix for benign prostate hypertrophy, SPI-1620 for solid tumours, and most recently, ortataxel for taxane-refractory tumours." Spectrum currently has 11 drug product candidates under development.

Spectrum acquired worldwide rights to satraplatin from Johnson Matthey PLC. In 2002, Spectrum licensed worldwide rights to satraplatin to GPC Biotech. GPC Biotech is responsible for all costs associated with the development and regulatory filings of satraplatin.