Dendreon Announces Retirement of Christopher S. Henney As Chairman of the Board; Richard B. Brewer to Succeed Henney as Chairman.

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

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SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2004

Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq:DNDN) today announced that Christopher S. Henney, chairman of the board, will retire from Dendreon's board effective June 16, 2004 at the company's annual meeting of stockholders. Current Board member, Richard B. Brewer, will succeed Henney as chairman.

Henney, 63, a respected scientist and leader in the biotechnology industry for over two decades, co-founded ICOS Corporation, a publicly-held biotechnology company, where from 1989 to 1995, he served as executive vice president, scientific director and director. Henney also co-founded Immunex Corporation, which was a publicly-held biotechnology company acquired by Amgen in July 2002, where from 1981 to 1989, he held various positions, including director, vice chairman and scientific director. In addition to his role as chairman at Dendreon, he was chief executive from 1995 to 2002, and was president from 1998 to 2000.

"Chris has made tremendous contributions to Dendreon over the last 9 years," said Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Dendreon. "His vision, insight and experience have helped advance Dendreon to where we are today -- a company in Phase 3 clinical trials with our lead product candidate Provenge(R) for prostate cancer and a healthy product pipeline.

"As the Board moves towards a more commercial focus, we are pleased that Dick Brewer has decided to accept the chairmanship position. His proven track record in the biotechnology industry, particularly in commercializing products, comes at a great time, as we move Provenge closer to market and advance our other product candidates through the clinic."

"My time with Dendreon has been extremely rewarding as I believe strongly in the company's mission, products, technology and people," said Henney. "Dick is a very talented and experienced leader who will continue to work together with Mitchell and the rest of the board to lead the company through its next phase of development."

Brewer formerly was chief executive officer and president of Scios Inc., a biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing novel treatments for cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, and cancer. At Scios, Brewer led the company in achieving FDA approval for their novel protein therapeutic Natrecor(R), which has become one of the most successful and widely used cardiovascular drugs in the acute care setting.

In addition to Dendreon, he serves on the boards of Corgentech, Corus, Mitoscience and Agensys, Inc., and is an advisory board member at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management Center for Biotechnology at Northwestern University. Mr. Brewer holds a BS from Virginia Polytechnic Institute, and an MBA from Northwestern University.

Dendreon also announced that Timothy Harris, Ph.D. has resigned from the Board. "On behalf of Dendreon, I want to thank Tim for his dedication to the company and for the many valuable contributions he made during his years of service on the Board," said Gold.

Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for cancer. The company's lead investigational product candidate, Provenge(R), is a cancer immunotherapy undergoing a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of androgen independent prostate cancer. In addition to its immunotherapies in clinical and preclinical development for a variety of cancers, Dendreon's product pipeline also includes monoclonal antibody, small molecule and pro-drug product candidates. Dendreon has research and development alliances with Genentech, Inc., Abgenix, Inc. and Dyax Corp. For more information about the company and its programs, visit www.dendreon.com.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, particularly those risks and uncertainties inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics. Factors that may cause such a difference include reliance on directors, officers, and key employees, risks related to Dendreon's limited operating history, risks associated with completing Dendreon's clinical trials, the risk that the results of a clinical trial, including Phase 3 trials of Provenge, will not support applying for or approval of a biologics license by the FDA, the risks associated with development of manufacturing capabilities and other infrastructure to support commercialization, including the risks that we may be unable to successfully scale up our manufacturing and production capabilities or may lack adequate capital to do so, the risk that our product candidates, if approved for sale, may have none or limited commercial success, the risk that clinical trials may be suspended or terminated because of unacceptable health risks or for other reasons, and the risks that our competitors may develop products that are safer, more effective or reach the market sooner than our product candidates, the uncertainty of Dendreon's future access to capital, the risk that Dendreon may not secure or maintain relationships with collaborators, and dependence on intellectual property. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect Dendreon's business, financial condition and results of operations, are contained in Dendreon's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available at www.sec.gov.