As most might have heard by now, Dendreon’s prostate cancer vaccine got the thumbs up from the FDA panel yesterday. That sent the Seattle company’s stock price into a crazy stratopheric orbit today. When the market’s closed, Dendreon’s shares had gained $7.71 – nearly 148 percent – in value, closing at $12.93.
Of course, this is big news beyond what it means for Dendreon. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in U.S. men, right behind skin cancer. Even if Provenge does little beyond extending the lives of prostate cancer sufferers by a few months, that’s still something of real value.
Key quote: “This is a significant step not just for Dendreon but for the industry as a whole,” said Steve Brozak, an analyst at WBB Securities, told Reuters. “However, it remains to be seen what the practical application will be and how physicians will adopt it.”
Here’s some of the coverage of Provenge’s preliminary approval and the reaction today: http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/mar2007/pi20070330_846124.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_investing and http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2109942,00.asp and http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/03/30/BUGDTOTGSK18.DTL.
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