Optimistic Dendreon revs up second program

Dendreon is making bullish noises about its development efforts. The CMO of the Seattle biotech says that Provenge will deliver positive new data to the FDA on the delayed cancer therapy Provenge later this year. And that advance is allowing Dendreon to free up some money so researchers can get back to its number two program: Neuvenge for breast cancer, which has already gone through two early-stage trials.  

Dendreon presented new data on Neuvenge at AACR. The Post-Intelligencer reports that two of 11 patients with breast cancer whose disease had spread had their tumors stabilize after being on the Dendreon treatment for 49 weeks and 72 weeks, respectively. Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco and Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN., didn't see any cases of tumor shrinkage.

Neuvenge is an offshoot of the prostate cancer drug Provenge, which reengineers patients' white blood cells to kill cancer cells. Earlier this month Dendreon announced that it had raised $47 million from an unnamed institutional investor. The unnamed investor, the Post-Intelligencer reports, is Susquehanna International Group.

- read the article [1] in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- here's the earlier P-I story [2] on the financing deal

Related Articles:
FDA accelerates Provenge timeline. Provenge report [3]
FDA's stand on Provenge riles cancer patients. Provenge Report [4]
Provenge delay triggers furor among cancer victims. Dendreon report [5]
Dendreon gets approvable letter for Provenge. Dendreon report [6]