Shares of Dendreon went on a wild roller coaster ride yesterday, first plunging dramatically and then soaring back up after the company released new data demonstrating that its prostate cancer vaccine Provenge extended the lives of patients. Several observers note that the data boosts Dendreon's chances of winning an FDA approval.
The data showed that men with advanced tumors who were given Provenge had a median survival time of 25.8 months, compared to 21.7 months in the control arm. The data was presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association.
Wachovia Securities analyst Aaron Reames cheered the numbers in a note to clients, saying that the results were a clear positive outcome for Dendreon and the first hard evidence of extended survival for a cancer vaccine in a late-stage clinical trial.
Just before the news Dendreon's stock tanked, dropping almost 70 percent in three minutes. After the data release, though, the stock recovered, rising to $13.86 late yesterday. Dendreon says that it may sign on partners to commercialize the drug, but only outside the U.S.
"We have no explanation for why the stock would have such a sudden reaction," Mitchell Gold, Dendreon's chief executive officer, told the Wall Street Journal. "We're very pleased with the results of the Impact study. The data will speak for themselves at the end of the day."
- read the report from Bloomberg
- read the report from the Wall Street Journal