Paradigm Shift

Dendreon exploded into national prominence in 2010 for bringing its research discovery, Provenge, into commercial use after receiving Food and Drug Administration approval in April. Provenge is a breakthrough therapy that uses a patients own cells to fight prostate cancer. One expert in the field, Philip Kantoff of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, said Provenge will likely create a new treatment paradigm for patients with cancer.

Because the product helps the bodys own immune system to fight the disease, it is known as an immunotherapy. Provenge is created from each patients own blood cells, which are removed and treated in a special facility, and then returned to the body.

Treating prostate cancer is no small challenge. The second most common cancer in American men, it is the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 200,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. The therapy has been approved only for men whose cancer has not responded to other therapies.

Dendreon invested 15 years and about $1 billion into research and development on Provenge. If all goes well, CEO Mitchell Gold estimates the company could make $1.2 to $2.5 billion. Provenge still faces some hurdles as it expands to meet demand from men with advanced cancer. Other therapies are in the pipeline for other cancers.

Headquartered near downtown Seattle, the business has more than 1,000 employees. Dendreon has one facility in New Jersey operating now, and plans to have two morein Georgia and Southern Californiaoperating by midyear.

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Clay Siegall, President and CEO, Seattle Genetics Inc.

This company, based in Bothell, is poised to break from research into the commercial world in a big way if the Food and Drug Administration approves its product, brentuximab vedotin, which showed promise against two blood cancers in clinical trials in patients whose cancer had returned or did not respond to other treatments. The results demonstrate the potential of Seattle Genetics antibody-drug conjugate technology, which sends what some describe as a smart bomb of chemotherapy directly to a cancer cell.

Ryo Kubota, Chairman, president and CEO, Acucela Inc.

It wasnt enough to discover the first glaucoma gene; Ryo Kubota founded Acucela Inc. on the notion that some eye diseases, including what is called age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, could be slowed down. His innovative new approach, which is based on electrical signals in the retina of the eye, targets the leading cause of blindness in people age 50 and older. Acucela is also teaming up with the Japanese Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. to test and develop a new treatment for glaucoma.