One emerging biotech company in Seattle gets a lot of national attention, and it isn’t Seattle Genetics. So while the regional drama king (Dendreon) grabbed headlines again today by raising $540 million, the lesser known folks at Seattle Genetics (NASDAQ: [[ticker:SGEN]]) took their turn in the limelight this week, in an appearance on CNBC.
The cable TV cameras were pointed at Seattle Genetics CEO Clay Siegall this week while he was attending the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Seattle Genetics stock has climbed more than 60 percent in the past year, based on some clinical trial results that showed its “empowered antibody” has a potent ability to shrink tumors in patients with Hodgkin’s disease and anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
Seattle Genetics is now working on an application to seek FDA approval of the drug. It’s possible Seattle Genetics will be able to start selling the treatment on the U.S. market in 2011.
You can watch Siegall’s appearance on CNBC below or at CNBC’s site. At one point, host Larry Kudlow tried to ask Siegall how much SGN-35 (brentuximab vedotin) might cost if it were cleared for the U.S. market, and while Siegall didn’t answer directly, it’s fair to conclude it won’t be cheap.
