ZIOPHARM recently announced the initiation of its pivotal Phase III trial for palifosfamide (ZymafosTM or ZIO-201) in patients with front-line metastatic soft tissue sarcoma. The study, called PICASSO 3, will enroll approximately 424 patients in up to 150 centers in North America, Europe, South America, Australia, Israel and Korea. The Company expects to initiate a Phase I trial of palifosfamide in a second indication, small cell lung cancer, with Lawrence Einhorn, M.D., Lance Armstrong Professor of Oncology at the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center, in the fourth quarter of 2010. This will be followed by a randomized Phase II study.

ZIOPHARM will also study palifosfamide in oral form in a Phase I trial that it expects to initiate in the fourth quarter of 2010.

With regard to darinaparsin (ZinaparTM or ZIO-101), the Company re-initiated enrollment in a Phase I trial of its oral formulation during the quarter and expects to initiate a Phase I trial of IV darinaparsin used in combination with "CHOP," a therapeutic regimen commonly used in the treatment of lymphomas. The CHOP study is intended to establish safety and tolerability of the combination for subsequent use in a pivotal randomized trial for the front-line treatment of peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

With regard to indibulin (ZybulinTM or ZIO-301), the Company continues to enroll patients in a Phase I/II study in metastatic breast cancer which is being conducted at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The study employs a novel, mathematically-determined administration schedule for indibulin that was developed by Larry Norton, M.D. Deputy Physician-in-Chief for Breast Cancer Programs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering and Medical Director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center.

Source ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.