Dendreon – A company to watch

Dendreon Corp. , the Seattle-based drug maker, is looking at Atlanta's south side for an $80 million manufacturing facility that could create at least 300 jobs.

 

Dendreon (NASDAQ: DNDN) is seeking FDA approval for a treatment -- Provenge -- that helps deal with prostate cancer that does not respond to traditional hormone therapy. The drug spurs the white cells to attack the prostate cancer. Companies competing in this space are Cell Genesys and Biovax.

 

Dendreon did not immediately comment. Atlanta Business Chronicle first broke the news of Dendreon's interest in Atlanta in its July 17 print edition. The company plans to seek FDA approval by fall or early 2010, the company said. Provenge is unlike existing chemotherapy drugs, which aim to destroy tumor cells by poisoning them.

 

As part of the Dendreon treatment, a type of white cell (an immune cell) called a dendritic cell, is removed from the patient and exposed to a protein in the Dendreon lab. This protein is found in prostate tumor cells. The white cells are then re-infused into the patient. The idea is that this trains the body's immune system to attack tumor cells.

 

Dendreon's approach to cancer treatment is unique, said Dr. Omer Kucuk, professor of hematology and oncology at Emory Winship Cancer Institute. "Most of the treatments we have now for cancer are drugs that [have] a lot of side effects [and] are difficult to give," Kucuk said. "This is kind of a short treatment."

 

Provenge, Kucuk said, is "an exciting new drug because its a vaccine and a new way of treating cancer." According to a clinical trial of 512 men with prostate cancer that no longer responded to hormonal therapy, there was a 4.1 month difference in median survival of the treatment group compared to the control group. Also 42 percent of the treated were alive at three years versus 23 percent of the controls, the company reported at a recent industry meeting.

 

The company also noted there is a lot of logistics in the process, as the blood cells of the patient have to be sent to the drug company for treatment and returned to the doctor to be reinfused in that specific patient. That could be another reason Dendreon picked a location close to the world's busiest airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

 

Dendreon might be positioning itself for the impending FDA approval with the potential Atlanta facility, said Kucuk, who is not involved, or familiar, with any potential Atlanta deal. Dendreon's entry into Atlanta is a positive development for the city because it will add jobs and boost the tax base. Also, Buford, Ga., is home to Theragenics Corp. (NYSE: TGX), which makes Theraseed, a treatment for prostate cancer.

 

The operations will also improve the area's reputation as a cradle for science and medicine, said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society and an Emory professor. It will also help attract scientists and doctors to the area and spur collaboration with local research universities, such as Emory University, Brawley said. The operation will spur "the exchange of ideas and that's how science improves," Brawley said.

 

The company manufactures Provenge for its clinical trials at a plant in Seattle, and at a similar plant in Morris Plains, N.J. Dendreon is expanding the New Jersey plant.

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2009/07/13/daily99.html