Dendreon plans to have three plants to make Provenge by mid of 2011. According to an estimate by Bloomberg the drug is expected to generate $1.2bn by 2014.
Dendreon is using cancer immunotherapies that use the patient’s own immune system to treat cancer and the approval of Provenge represents a scientific and clinical advancement for the treatment of prostate cancer.
Prima BioMed, an Australian biotechnology firm focused on cancer immunotherapy, is using the technology to develop its CVac immunotherapy cancer vaccine for the treatment of ovarian cancer.
Prima BioMed said that the approval of Provenge represents a transformational event in the development of cancer treatments and is expected to create a new treatment paradigm for patients with cancer.