Cell Therapeutics, Inc. Announces Receipt of NASDAQ Listing Update

SEATTLE, March 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) announced today that the Company received a letter from The NASDAQ Stock Market indicating that the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel has determined to continue the listing of the Company's common stock on The NASDAQ Capital Market, subject to the condition that, on or before April 6, 2009, the Company demonstrate compliance with all applicable standards for continued listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market, including the $35 million market value of listed securities requirement or one of its alternatives.

As disclosed on September 6, 2008 and October 10, 2008, the Company was previously notified by NASDAQ regarding its non-compliance with the $50 million market value of listed securities requirement for continued listing on The NASDAQ Global Market. At the Company's request, on January 6, 2009, the Panel determined to transfer the listing of the Company's common stock from The NASDAQ Global Market to The NASDAQ Capital Market, subject to the Company demonstrating compliance with the applicable requirements for continued listing on The NASDAQ Capital Market by February 12, 2009, which period has since been extended through April 6, 2009.

The letter also included a public reprimand in connection with the Company's non-compliance with the shareholder approval and listing of additional shares requirements set forth in Marketplace Rules 4350(i) and 4310(c)(17), respectively, as previously disclosed by the Company in a press release dated January 26, 2009 and Current Report on Form 8-K as filed on January 29, 2009. Those deficiencies have already been remedied.

About Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Headquartered in Seattle, CTI is a biopharmaceutical company committed to developing an integrated portfolio of oncology products aimed at making cancer more treatable. For additional information, please visit www.celltherapeutics.com.

This press release includes forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, the outcome of which could materially and/or adversely affect actual future results. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the Company's ability to achieve compliance with the NASDAQ Capital Market's continued listing requirements by April 6, 2009, including the market value of listed securities requirement, as well as other risks and uncertainties that could affect the Company's business operations and the development of the Company's products including the Company's need to raise additional capital, risks associated with preclinical and clinical developments in the biopharmaceutical industry in general including, without limitation, the potential failure of a product to prove safe and effective for treatment of a specific condition, determinations by regulatory, patent and administrative governmental authorities, competitive factors, technological developments, and costs of developing, producing and selling the product(s). You should also review the risk factors listed or described from time to time in CTI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including, without limitation, CTI's most recent filings on Forms 10-K, 8-K, and 10-Q. Except as may be required by law, CTI does not intend to update or alter its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

CONTACT: media, Dan Eramian, +1-206-272-4343, cell, +1-206-854-1200,
media@ctiseattle.com, or investors, Ed Bell, +1-206-272-4345, or Lindsey
Jesch Logan, +1-206-272-4347, fax, +1-206-272-4434, invest@ctiseattle.com,
all of Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Web site: http://www.celltherapeutics.com/