Dendreon Wins Approval for Provenge

Finally, might be the word of the day for the nearly 500 employees of Seattle biotechnology powerhouse Dendreon, which won approval Thursday from the FDA for its therapeutic vaccine Provenge. The treatment is for men with prostate cancer that has not responded to other therapy. The company has spent 15 years working towards this goal.

A complete course of Provenge for a patient will cost about $93,000, according to blogger Fierce Biotech. One of the Seattle docs expecting his phone to ring with patients seeking Provenge is John Corman, M.D., who told Luke Timmerman of Xconomy, a biotech news site, that he participated in the clinical trials of the therapy. Corman is a urologist at Virginia Mason Medical Center.

This is a fabulous day, for the company and men with prostate cancer, said David Miller, an analyst and president of Biotech Stock Research LLC, an analysis firm in Seattle.

Investors and journalists burned up the twitter feeds with speculation about where the stock will land, and how the company will meet pent-up demand for the product.

Only 2,000 patients will receive Provenge in the first year, the company predicted. It has a plant in New Jersey, and ones due to be complete in Atlanta and San Diego.

The company estimates about 100,000 men are eligible for the treatment in the US.

Here is more background in our story from February.