Image via WikipediaHere's Dendreon's newswire on it's approval of Provenge. Stock hit an all time high of 57.55 and has tapered off a bit around the 53 point range. This is a quality stock and it's profits should help the bottom line with this big news on April 29th, 2010.
SEATTLE, April 29, 2010 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN ) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved PROVENGE(R)
(sipuleucel-T), an autologous cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic, castrate-resistant (hormone-refractory) prostate cancer (CRPC). PROVENGE is designed to induce an immune response against prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP), an antigen expressed in most prostate cancers, and is the first in a new therapeutic class known as autologous cellular immunotherapies.
The FDA approval of PROVENGE is a testament to the courage of the patients and researchers who participated in our studies and is the culmination of nearly 15 years of research and development by our dedicated employees," said Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Dendreon. "The approval of PROVENGE is a significant step towards realizing our mission of transforming the lives of patients with cancer, and it also marks Dendreon's transformation into a commercial enterprise, ready to support the successful launch of the first personalized treatment for cancer."
Dendreon intends to make PROVENGE available through approximately 50 centers, all of which were approved PROVENGE clinical trial sites, and expects to increase capacity over the next year. The increased capacity will be a result of the anticipated licensure of its expanded New Jersey, Atlanta, Georgia and Orange County, Calif. facilities in mid-2011.
"The approval of PROVENGE, the first autologous cellular immunotherapy, represents a significant scientific and clinical advancement for the treatment of prostate cancer," said Philip Kantoff, M.D., Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, Chief of the Division of Solid Tumor Oncology, and Chief Clinical Research Officer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Cancer immunotherapies that use the patient's own immune system will likely create an entirely new treatment paradigm for patients with cancer."
Clinical Trial Results Supporting FDA Approval
Three Phase 3 studies involving 737 patients were submitted to FDA to support licensure. The pivotal study was the Phase 3 IMPACT (IMmunotherapy for Prostate AdenoCarcinoma Treatment) trial (D9902B), a 512-patient, multi-center, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study that evaluated men with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, metastatic CRPC. PROVENGE extended median survival beyond two-years, demonstrating a median improvement of 4.1 months compared to the control group (25.8 months versus 21.7 months). Overall, PROVENGE reduced the risk of death by 22.5 percent compared to the control group (HR=0.775). Results from the similarly designed Study D9901 in asymptomatic metastatic CRPC also demonstrated a survival advantage of similar clinical magnitude as the IMPACT study.
"The approval of PROVENGE represents a significant advancement in the care of men with advanced prostate cancer. PROVENGE offers a new choice in the front line treatment for these men who - until today - had few appealing treatment options," said David Penson, M.D., Professor of Urologic Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
About PROVENGE and Patient Resources
PROVENGE (sipuleucel-T) is an autologous cellular immunotherapy indicated for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic, castrate resistant (hormone-refractory) prostate cancer. PROVENGE represents the first product in a new therapeutic class known as autologous cellular immunotherapies.
Dendreon will donate funds to an independent non-profit organization that will provide financial assistance to patients who cannot afford the co-payments associated with their prostate cancer medicines. In addition, Dendreon's dedicated call center case managers will proactively help match patients with foundations to support their financial assistance needs.
For more information, please visit http://www.blogger.com/www.PROVENGE.com.
About Dendreon
Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company targeting cancer and transforming lives through the discovery, development, commercialization and manufacturing of novel therapeutics. The Company applies its expertise in antigen identification, engineering and cell processing to produce active cellular immunotherapy product candidates designed to stimulate an immune response in a variety of tumor types. Dendreon's first autologous cellular immunotherapy product, PROVENGE(R) (sipuleucel-T), was approved by the FDA in April 2010 for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic, castrate-resistant (hormone-refractory) prostate cancer. Dendreon also is developing an orally-available small molecule that targets TRPM8 that could be applicable to multiple types of cancer. The Company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol DNDN. For more information about the Company and its programs, visit http://www.blogger.com/www.dendreon.com
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