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Mignon:I have an update to a story all the way back from Episode Number 3 where we talked about the developmental prostate cancer drug called Provenge from the biotech company Dendreon. Provenge as you may or may not recall, is a prostate cancer vaccine, which works by by showing your immune system proteins called antigens that are only found on cancer cells in the hopes of rallying the immune system to fight the cancer.
Back when we did Episode 3 there weren't any cancer drug so the market tht work this way, and I'm not aware of any that have been approved in the interim, so Provenge is still a real pioneering drug.
Well, Dendreon's management just announced that they have submitted the paperwork necessary for the FDA to consider approving Provenge. The trial data they are using comes from a clinical trial with 127 patients. They say the side effects were mild, and that the men taking the drug survived 4.5 months longer than men taking a placebo.
A story by UPI said that biotech analysts aren't sure whether the FDA will approve Provenge shortly or wait to make the decision until the results are available from a larger trial that is currently underway.
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