Dendreon Receives Patent Covering Therapeutic Vaccine Technology.Business Editors/Health & Medical Writers SEATTLE--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 15, 2000 Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq:DNDN) announced today that it has received a key U.S. patent for the Company's therapeutic vaccines. With this issued patent, Dendreon now owns or has licenses to 79 U.S. and foreign patents covering its technology. The patent (U.S. No. 6,080,409) titled "Immunostimulatory Composition," relates to the method by which Dendreon's vaccines stimulate the T-cell arm of the immune system immune system Cells, cell products, organs, and structures of the body involved in the detection and destruction of foreign invaders, such as bacteria, viruses, and cancer cells. Immunity is based on the system's ability to launch a defense against such invaders. to fight cancer. T-cells recognize markers of diseased cells called antigens. T-cell immunity is commonly thought to be the body's key defense against tumors and cells chronically infected by viruses. T-cells are first educated to recognize a cancer or viral antigen viral antigen n. Abbr. VA An antigen with multiple antigenicities that is protein in nature, strain-specific, and closely associated with the virus particle. by dendritic cells. Dendreon's method incorporates a tumor antigen tumor antigen n. Any of several antigens present in tumors induced by certain types of adenoviruses and papovaviruses or in cells transformed in vitro by those viruses. Also called neoantigen, T antigen. into an "Antigen Delivery Cassette(TM)" that introduces the tumor antigen to the dendritic cell. The antigen-loaded dendritic cells are then infused into the cancer patient to stimulate the development of T-cell immunity. "This patent is an important addition to our growing patent portfolio," said David Urdal, Ph.D., chief scientific officer. "Our Provenge(TM) vaccine in development for prostate cancer prostate cancer, cancer originating in the prostate gland. Prostate cancer is the leading malignancy in men in the United States and is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in men. and our other products in development for breast, ovarian, uterine uterine /uter·ine/ (u´ter-in) pertaining to the uterus. u·ter·ine adj. Of, relating to, or in the region of the uterus. , colorectal, bladder, lung and pancreatic cancer pancreatic cancer Malignant tumour of the pancreas. Risk factors include smoking, a diet high in fat, exposure to certain industrial products, and diseases such as diabetes and chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatic cancer is more common in men. apply this technology." Provenge(TM) is currently in Phase III clinical trials Noun 1. phase III clinical trial - a large clinical trial of a treatment or drug that in phase I and phase II has been shown to be efficacious with tolerable side effects; after successful conclusion of these clinical trials it will receive formal approval from the , the final stage of clinical trials for product development. Dendreon's Phase I and II studies of patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer have shown Dendreon's vaccine to be well tolerated and effective in stimulating T-cell-mediated immunity. The vaccine has also shown indications of clinical benefit, appearing to delay the rate of prostate cancer progression in a significant number of patients. Dendreon Corporation (www.dendreon.com) is dedicated to the discovery and development of novel products for the treatment of cancer through its innovative manipulation of the immune system. Dendreon is focused on the development of therapeutic vaccines through the use of antigen discovery, antigen engineering and dendritic cell technologies. Except for historical information contained herein, this press 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. Factors that may cause such a difference include our ability to obtain, maintain and enforce our patents and other proprietary rights, the potential for our products to conflict with patent rights of others, the impact of competition and technological change in the cancer vaccine The term cancer vaccine is often used to describe a process whereby a person's immune system is coaxed into recognizing and destroying malignant cells without harming normal cells. industry, risks related to adverse clinical results as our products move into and advance in clinical trials and possible delays in obtaining, or inability to obtain, FDA FDA abbr. Food and Drug Administration FDA, n.pr See Food and Drug Administration. FDA, n.pr the abbreviation for the Food and Drug Administration. approval for our products. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect Dendreon's business, financial condition and results of operations are contained in the Company's public disclosure filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including the Company's Registration Statement on Form S-1 (No. 333-31920), which are available at www.sec.gov. |
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