Dendreon Receives U.S. Patent On Prostate Antigen for Cancer Therapy.SEATTLE--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 17, 1999-- Dendreon Corporation announced today that it has received a U.S. patent for a key component of the company's therapeutic vaccine therapeutic vaccine Immunology A vaccine–eg, Salk's Remune™ intended to treat a viral infection by stimulating the immune system. See Vaccine therapy. 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. . The patent (U.S. No. 5,976,546) covers the composition of the prostate 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. engineered by Dendreon to help stimulate 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. . Phase I and II studies involving more than 75 patients with hormone refractory prostate cancer have shown Dendreon's vaccine to be well tolerated and effective in stimulating immunity. The vaccine has also shown indications of clinical benefit, appearing to delay the rate of prostate cancer progression. Dendreon is currently initiating pivotal, Phase III studies of its vaccine with the goal of market approval from the 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. . "This patent validates our technology for prostate cancer and strengthens our proprietary position in prostate cancer immunotherapy," said Reiner Laus, M.D., vice president of immunology. "By establishing intellectual property holdings in all components of our treatment process, we have developed a well-protected product portfolio." Dendreon's approach to cancer immunotherapy combines the discovery of new tumor target antigens with the engineering of these target antigens to bring them to the attention of the immune system through the most powerful antigen-presenting cell antigen-presenting cell n. A cell, originating in the bone marrow and subsequently found as a dendritic cell in various locations, that facilitates the immune response by holding antigens on its surface and presenting them to lymphocytes. , the dendritic cell dendritic cell n. 1. A cell that has branching processes. 2. Any of the cells in the neural crest of the embryonic ectoderm having extensive processes and developing early as producers of melanin. . Dendreon's therapeutic vaccine is composed of dendritic cells that have been isolated from a patient's body and "activated" with the prostate tumor antigen before infusion back into the patient. The company's issued and allowed patents now cover all aspects of this approach. Furthermore, the tumor antigen "cassette" for prostate cancer has been engineered to be exchangeable with other cancer targets. Dendreon has applied this antigen cassette for the development of an immunotherapy treatment for breast cancer, which is scheduled to begin clinical trials in 2000. Dendreon Corporation (www.dendreon.com) is a private biotechnology company that develops and commercializes novel products for the treatment of cancer, infectious disease and autoimmunity through its innovative manipulation of the immune system. The company is focused on the development of novel therapeutic vaccines and antibodies for the treatment of cancer using proprietary antigen discovery, antigen engineering and dendritic cell technologies. |
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