Denderon beefs up for Provenge (DNDN)
Dendreon corp. (Nasdaq: DNDN) is the company with the newest advanced prostate cancer treatment on the market with blockbuster potential, and according to regulatory filings, it’s beefing up its facilities.
An obscure SEC filing out today showed that on June 16, the company entered into an agreement with a Pennsylvania-based company to begin work on Phase II and Phase III of therapeutic biotechnology processing facility in Morris Plains, New Jersey.
Phase II, which consists of additional quality control laboratories, data center, training areas, infrastructure and offices, is to be mostly complete by December 18, 2009.
Phase III, which consists of additional manufacturing clean room work stations, production support areas, warehouse, infrastructure and offices, is to be substantially complete by April 23, 2010.
It appears that the company is planning for the future of Provenge, it’s compound for treating hormone refractory prostate cancer (HRPC). It’s a disease analysts say kills about 30,000 in the U.S. each year.
Provenge has yet to go on the market. But Phase III trial data showed a 22.5% reduction in the risk of death in patients taking Provenge vs. placebo. The median survival benefit was a little over four months.
Dendreon is the true battleground stock and there are still many who don’t believe in the effectiveness and/or in the FDA approval. But all the data and preparation from the company itself keeps leaning toward this being a “when” rather than “if.”
- Mike Tarsala
