Dendreon Corporation to Participate in Needham & Company Biotechnology Conference.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

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Needham & Company Biotechnology Conference

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2003

CEO Mitchell Gold to Highlight Data Presented at Recent American

Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting

Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq:DNDN) today announced that Chief Executive Officer Mitchell H. Gold, M.D., will present at the Needham & Company Biotechnology Conference taking place June 5-6, 2003 at the New York Palace Hotel in New York City.

Gold is scheduled to present at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, June 5. Members of the public can listen to a live webcast of the presentation by visiting Dendreon's website www.dendreon.com under "News & Events." Gold will provide a corporate update including highlights of data recently presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2003 Annual Meeting in Chicago, Ill. These include:

-- Data from the Phase 3 clinical trial, D9901, of Provenge(R),

Dendreon's investigational therapeutic vaccine and lead

product candidate, confirming that the product's underlying

mechanism of action, a T-cell immune response, is consistent

with the positive clinical response seen in patients with

advanced, metastatic prostate cancer. The results show that

Provenge treatment induced a highly significant T-cell

mediated immune response compared to placebo (p=0.0003), with

Provenge treated patients demonstrating an eight-fold increase

in T-cell proliferation compared to placebo. In addition,

among men treated with Provenge, those whose tumors were

graded with a Gleason score of 7 or less developed a median

change in T-cell mediated immune response seven-fold greater

than the T-cell mediated immune response seen in

Provenge-treated men whose tumors were graded a Gleason score

of 8 and higher (p=0.0065). These results are consistent with,

and support the biologic rationale of, previously announced

data from the D9901 Phase 3 trial that demonstrated a

significant delay in both time to disease progression and time

to the onset of cancer-related pain for men with Gleason 7 or

less tumors following treatment with Provenge.

-- Preliminary results from a Phase 2 trial, P-16, indicating

that a combination therapy of Provenge(R) and Bevacizumab

(Avastin(TM)) has demonstrated evidence of decreasing PSA 

doubling time in men with androgen dependent prostate cancer.

Of 9 patients evaluable for PSA doubling time (PSADT), median

PSADT increased nearly three fold, from 8.2 months prior to

study entry to 21.4 months after treatment with Provenge and

Bevacizumab. PSA doubling time is a measure of the rate of

change of PSA over time. Changes in PSADT can only be

calculated for patients who have a rising PSA after therapy.

Three patients also had PSA decreases from baseline of 12%,

33% and 64% respectively.

-- Results from an ongoing Phase 1 trial of APC8024, Dendreon's

investigational therapeutic vaccine for breast, colon and

ovarian cancer, which indicate the product is well-tolerated,

stimulates T-cell immunity and is continuing to show ongoing

clinical benefit in patients with advanced, metastatic Her-2

positive breast cancer. Four of 16 patients evaluated for

clinical response demonstrated clinical benefit defined as a

partial response or prolonged stable disease. This included

one patient who experienced a partial response as measured by

a 50 percent reduction in tumor size that lasted 25 weeks, and

three patients who have experienced ongoing stable disease. Of

the three patients with stable disease, one has had stable

disease for more than 48 weeks (11 months) and two patients

have had stable disease for more than one year following

treatment with APC8024. Overall, treatment with APC8024 was

shown to be well tolerated, with no significant side effects

reported and no evidence of any cardiotoxicity.

Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company developing targeted therapies for cancer. In addition to its therapeutic vaccines in clinical and pre-clinical development for a variety of cancers, Dendreon's product pipeline includes monoclonal antibody and small molecule product candidates. Dendreon has established important research and development alliances with industry leaders Genentech, Inc. and Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. 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 risks related to the uncertainty of Dendreon's future access to capital, Dendreon's limited operating history, risks associated with completing Dendreon's clinical trials, the risk that the safety and/or efficacy results of a clinical trial will not support an application for a biologics license, the risk that the FDA will not approve a product for which a biologics license has been applied, the failure by Dendreon to secure and maintain relationships with collaborators, dependence on the efforts of third parties, 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 public disclosure filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which are available at www.sec.gov.