Dendreon Expects Interim Provenge Trial Results in October

Dendreon, the developer of treatments to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer, said today it expects interim results in October from a clinical trial of 500 men with terminal prostate cancer. The Seattle-based biotech company (NASDAQ: [[ticker:DNDN]]) said it hopes to use the data, which looks at whether Provenge can help men with the disease live longer, to support its application to the FDA to market the drug. A final analysis of the data expected in the second half of 2009 has a greater likelihood of success, although the interim analysis could allow the company to bring the therapy to the market faster, the company said. Dendreon shares rose 3.4 percent, to $6.02 at 10:09 a.m. Eastern time.

Author: Luke Timmerman

Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.