of its status every step of the way. This intricate supply chain relies on a number of things to keep rolling—reliable commercial shipments for one, and a reliable IT system for another.
Dendreon hasn’t had trouble executing these methodical steps in clinical trials, but that’s a relatively easy task compared to keeping up market demand from a pool of potentially tens of thousands of patients simultaneously.
If Dendreon suffers a serious stumble in keeping up with demand, doctors and patients are sure to howl with indignation. Dendreon hasn’t said publicly what would happen if a patient got somebody else’s cells by mistake, although it’s an unhappy thought. If such a mistake were caught early, and the patients had similar blood and immune system types, then the patient would probably live, said David Miller, president of Seattle-based Biotech Stock Research, in an exhaustive analysis for clients on February 27. Otherwise, such a snafu “clearly could be fatal,” Miller said.
You can imagine how the FDA, and the stock market, might react.
So, that’s a long explanation for why IT matters to Dendreon. Pocinwong was fairly tight-lipped about exactly what his firm does for Dendreon, citing a non-disclosure agreement, and Dendreon wouldn’t comment for this story.
But it’s clear that Dendreon sought out a contractor with a record of reliability. Direct Technology was founded in 1995, has 250 employees, and is profitable with no debt, Pocinwong says. It customers include Microsoft, T-Mobile, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the California 9-1-1 program office, among others.
Dendreon wrote the proprietary software code for Intellivenge in-house, Pocinwong says. When Dendreon looked for help from a vendor, it was referred to Direct Technology (Pocinwong wouldn’t say who introduced the two companies). The vendor was brought in to do quality assurance checks on the software about three years ago, Pocinwong says, although he didn’t provide an exact date.
Direct Technology won the contract, which involves
