If you would like to add a comment to any of the threads here on AADB, registration with blogspot.com is not required. Simply click on the ‘comments’ link at the bottom of an essay, and either enter a nickname under ‘choose an identity’ or post your comment anonymously. Serious comments are always welcome.



REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

5/01/2009

Anatomy of an Ambush


About five years ago I began following a small biotech company called Dendreon. I did a great deal of research on the company and began corresponding with people -- urologists, oncologists, researchers and clinicians -- who knew much more than I about the products in their pipeline, the process through which one must move in order to obtain FDA approval, and the conceivable potential of the vaccines that Dendreon was developing.

I became convinced that this company had several blockbuster products in its pipeline, so I purchased shares of the stock, continued to read experts’ opinions, and kept my ear open for developments, both positive and negative.

At the time, Dendreon’s most promising product, which appeared closest to FDA approval, was an anti-prostate cancer vaccine called Provenge. But following closely behind was a second vaccine -- this one for breast cancer -- called Neuvenge. Both vaccines concentrate on one antigen and a revolutionary cassette technology that has the potential to be a powerful tool in confronting many types of cancer. The development of the second vaccine had been sidelined for years due to financial concerns. A small fledgling biotech company is not awash in cash.

The current most common treatment for advanced stage prostate cancer is a chemotherapy treatment called Taxotere, whose side-effects can be torturous – some of which include: low levels of white blood cells, anemia, hair loss, mouth sores, severe fluid retention, nerve pain, weakness, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, breathing difficulties, joint pain ... and death. And Taxotere’s life-prolonging promise is minimal, at best.

Unlike Taxotere, which is essentially a poison targeted to kill cancer cells before they interfere with regular cells, Provenge attempts to re-engage the body's own immune system, encouraging it to more readily recognize cancer and defend against it … naturally. And its main possible side-effects include mild fever and chills, lasting only a few days (end of list).

Take a good look at the comparable side effects of Taxotere, the only prevalent treatment for late-stage prostate cancer, vs. Provenge. Apologies for the inconvenient fact that I had to break the chart in two and place the right side of it under the left -- it was simply too wide to fit in the space alotted here. You simply have to read the side-effect category and then scroll down to the second image to see how the two treatments compare:



Shortly after I became interested in Dendreon the FDA was advised by its own appointed panel of seventeen experts (oncologists, urologists, and immunologists) that Provenge is unequivocally safe. The vote was unanimous, 17-0. The panel also agreed, 13 to 4, that that there was ‘substantial evidence’ of the drug’s effectiveness, as per FDA parameters.

Three of the panel members who voted on Provenge’s effectiveness had admitted conflicts of interest (which would most likely have rendered them unable to serve on the panel, had the newer FDA rules on conflicts been in effect then). Had they been barred from the decision-making process, the effectiveness vote would then have been a whopping 13 to 1.

Approximately 30,000 men die in the U.S. every year from late stage Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer (AIPC). Once a man has reached this stage, his survival expectancy is approximately nineteen months. And one analysis, performed by the principal investigator of Taxotere, suggested that the combined use of Provenge with Taxotere increased survival by an incredible fourteen additional months, as opposed to survival rates in patients receiving Taxotere alone.

Despite the fact that the FDA follows the recommendations of its advisory panels ninety-eight percent of the time, in May of 2007, the FDA declined to approve Provenge, demanding more evidence of its effectiveness, and requiring further study.

There has been widespread speculation regarding the reason the FDA did not follow its historical record of approving such a safe, effective and revolutionary ‘drug’. Those explanations in which I place credence fall into two categories: (1) the power of Wall Street big money, and (2) the power of the chemotherapy cabal.

(1) There is an historically enormous ‘short interest’ in the stock of Dendreon – big money investors who bet big that this company would fail. At any given time, the short interest in Dendreon’s stock (DNDN) has been as high as 35%. Much ‘naked shorting’ has occurred in this stock – i.e., the selling of ‘phantom shares’, presumably (at least in this case) to artificially drive down the price of the stock in order to (a) prevent those who bet against the company from losing their shirts, or (b) destroy the company itself.

The problems for fledgling biotech companies are many. They are not only required to conduct financially prohibitive research, but, perhaps even more prohibitive, they must battle Wall Street corruption. Hedge funds, naked shorting, and stock analysts with an axe to grind represent a cancer of their own kind.

(2) The deeply entrenched chemotherapy dynasty is a multi-billion dollar business, and the big pharmaceutical giants are not about to relinquish that cash cow without a fight. They have powerful connections in high places.

This past Tuesday, Dendreon announced the results of the extended trial that the FDA demanded when approval was refused two years ago. To simplify those results: the numbers released were astounding – considered by most in the medical community to be a ‘home run’. Urologists and oncologists – some of whom had been sitting on the fence – are now clamoring to be able to use this new tool, and the medical world is describing the expected approval of Provenge as the dawn of a new era in the treatment of prostate cancer. Skeptics have been won over. Numbers don’t lie.

The trial results were announced on Tuesday afternoon. Shortly before those results were made public, a criminal manipulation of DNDN stock occurred on Wall Street. Many are calling it ‘The unexplained DNDN Crash’. Take a look at the chart for DNDN stock that day:


Trading in DNDN was halted by the SEC at 1:27 PM. Just minutes before, the stock fell from $24.60/share to $7.50/share in just over one minute’s time. There were over 4,000 trades placed during that one minute, with about 3 million shares -- about half of an entire day's volume ‘changing hands’ in one minute's time. Keep in mind: this all occurred shortly before blockbuster results of Provenge’s clinical trial were announced.

This is nothing short of Wall Street terrorism.

Many honest retail investors lost a great deal of money in this criminal bear attack -- especially, but not exclusively, those retail investors who were trading in options, and those who had stop loss orders in place. And many back stage Wall Street big-money people covered potential losses. That 'unexplained DNDN crash' decimated the stock's short to mid-term rally.

Had the crash not occurred, once the trial results were announced new buyers and short positions needing to cover would have easily put the stock close to $30 a share and sheer momentum would have taken it higher over the next few days.

The optimism in the stock over the previous few weeks, pending the trial results announcement -- especially on announcement day -- was akin to a balloon being gradually filled with air, and the pressure was at a point where the balloon was about to burst. The 'crash' instantaneously let the air out of the balloon, affecting the stock price not only that day but for weeks to come. Ask yourself how this chart might have looked, had the 'powers that be' not interfered. I suggest that the broken line to the right of the precipice would have had a positive slope, and there would have been no breaks in the ascent. The dotted red line is my speculation as to how the stock price would have trended, post 4/28/09, without the manipulators' interference.


The ‘regulators’ at NASDAQ ‘examined’ -- for all of ten minutes -- the precipitous, unexplained drop in share price and allowed the trades to stand.

I was heartsick when I witnessed the latest blatant attempt to ambush this company and its products – but I, personally, have little to lose but money. Men (husbands, fathers, brothers, sons) worldwide are enduring indescribable physical and mental agony, and are losing their lives to a horrific disease, at the rate of more than eighty of them every day, while this company and its life-enriching product are being played with, as if they were nothing more than plastic disks in a game of tiddly winks.

Is there anything more vile and repugnant in this world than injustice? And is there anything more evil than injustice brought about by human greed and corruption ... and resulting in agony and death for thousands upon thousands of innocent others?

I remember, decades ago, a time when the American people possessed an innate assurance that, no matter what kind of tragedy occurred or what brand of unfairness we had to weather, there was always the promise that someone in power was out there to at least listen to our grievances – and there was a justice system that would, more than likely, see to it that those grievances would be addressed, resulting in ultimate ‘fairness’.

That was a time in which those in power – in the three branches of government, and in the higher echelons of the free market system – had the good of the country, and its citizens, at the top of their list of priorities.

Such is no longer the case. Justice, and the concept of ‘fairness’, have been co-opted by self absorbed men, posing as ‘leaders’, with an unquenchable thirst for wealth and power.

... which is the reason those of us who believe in good science – and, more importantly, good science that appears to have the capability of improving the lot of humankind by alleviating suffering – are having difficulty believing that that science will be allowed to achieve its promise in this unsettled, uncertain era.

Two years ago we witnessed the triumph of greed and corruption over scientific innovation and success. And, in the two years that have elapsed since that infamous ‘triumph’, we have mourned the deaths, and lamented the torment, of nearly sixty thousand men who might have benefited from the science that remains in a greed-and-corruption-authored log jam.

Over the past two years, enemies of Provenge have continued to make end runs around the approval process by lighting brush fires outside of the normal channels -- by using the print medium to stir up controversy. Financial ‘analysts’ and ‘journalists’ continue to quote incorrect facts and make bogus future projections in an effort to stymie approval as well. Conflicts of interest on the part of medical professionals, and huge potential dollar losses on the part of hedge funds and short sellers, appear to represent the stuff of which an alliance continues to me made. And that malevolent alliance appears bound and determined to see to it that reasonable doubt is manufactured as to the credibility of the completed trials, and the future promise, of Provenge.

Now we sit here … having read the amazing numbers that were revealed on Tuesday … numbers that offer continuing proof of this revolutionary technology and its promise in the battle against one of history’s most dreaded diseases.

Dendreon has announced that it intends to file its amended BLA (Biologic License Application) for Provenge to the FDA in the last quarter of the year. They intend to be meticulous -- to cross every T and dot every I, so that nothing can be found amiss in their data or its presentation.

Between now and then there will no doubt be additional sniper fire, and outright ambushes, by those, both on Wall Street, and in the chemotheraphy cabal, who intend to continue to place roadblocks in front of a revolutionary medical breakthrough.

We need to pray that those who know the truth, and whose motives are to alleviate human suffering, are armed to the teeth with the facts – and that the new FDA decision-makers see it as their duty to use those facts to the benefit of the people whose very lives depend on their integrity.

~ joanie

76 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the real world.

Lou Barakos said...

I heard something about this stock on Fox financial a few days ago but I didn't pay much attention.

What a tragedy! I'm going to look into it more myself. Thanks Joanie.

Kathy Mlynczak said...

May the men who've stood in the way of this drug for reasons of greed and power develop the cancer themselves.

daveburkett said...

I'm speechless. I'll get back here and rant when I'm not.

lori_gmeiner said...

Over the past two years, enemies of Provenge have continued to make end runs around the approval process by lighting brush fires outside of the normal channels -- by using the print medium to stir up controversy. Financial ‘analysts’ and ‘journalists’ continue to quote incorrect facts and make bogus future projections in an effort to stymie approval as well. Conflicts of interest on the part of medical professionals, and huge potential dollar losses on the part of hedge funds and short sellers, appear to represent the stuff of which an alliance continues to me made. And that malevolent alliance appears bound and determined to see to it that reasonable doubt is manufactured as to the credibility of the completed trials, and the future promise, of Provenge.If I had a loved one who wanted to try this vaccine, and who died of prostate cancer over the last two years, my anger would be uncontrollable!

Best of luck to Dendreon! May they be victorious over the forces of evil!

D. L. said...

From In the Pipeline:

We now have more data on Dendreon’s results for their prostate cancer therapy Provenge, and the numbers do, in fact, look good. This isn't a cure for refractory prostate cancer, but there seems to be a real statistical improvement in survival, with side effects no worse than the placebo group, and that should be enough for the FDA. In oncology you have to take what you can get.

What’s bizarre is the trading that went on in the company’s stock just before they started presenting on Tuesday. For reasons that are still unclear, a horrendous wave of selling hit within the space of a few minutes, and the stock went down as if hit with a club. Having risen to nearly $25 by about 1 PM, trading was halted in the stock at 1:27, with it now going for $11.81. As the company’s shareholders raved and cursed in utter consternation, the company was detailing exactly the results they’d been hoping to hear.

Wednesday, the stock shot straight back up to its former levels, but that doesn’t help the many people who (prudently, they thought) had put stop-loss orders in and had thus already been sold out. This Bloomberg story has a fellow who was cashed out at $9.31, which must make him wonder (1) just what the hell was going on, anyway, and (2) just what it means to halt trading in a stock, if you’re going to find yourself traded out of it at an even lower price....

....So good luck to Dendreon, and to the patients who will use Provenge. Dendreon's investors, on the other hand, have probably been through the power-wash and spin cycle so many times that they hardly know what's hit them.

Brian Spear said...

I just called my broker for the fun of it and asked him his opinion of this stock. He had never heard of it, even after the release of the results you mentioned.

Check your email.

KDDublin said...

PCF......money spent to accelerate approval of the greatest advancement in recent history for the treatment of late stage prostate cancer...ZEROProstate cancer foundation Assets

Current assets:

Cash and cash equivalents $ 21,275,262 $ 12,802,192

Pledges receivable 6,442,212 9,190,210

Marketable securities 52,868 29,384

Prepaid expenses 59,216 62,401

Other receivables 50,564 110,598

Thirty million dollars in assets and not one penny so far spent to speed access to Provenge for late stage prostate cancer patients.

We call on the Prostate Cancer Foundation to stand up 2 cancer by doing what you say that you do...helping current and future late stage prostate cancer patients.

Absolute proof of the saftey and efficacy of Provenge is now undeniable yet you continue to do nothing to help the patients that every fund raiser you do says you support.

IF the PCf won't get off the sidelines and into the game then every donor for the past five years needs to ask for their money back.

PCF where are you and where have you been?

Cal Brindisi said...

I don't remember the exact statistics, but every man over the age of forty needs to get a prostate exam and a regular blood test because a huge percentage will develope prostate cancer in their lifetimes.

It is absolutely disgusting that these schemers are probably affecting millions of men's lives, long term.

stonemason said...

From Dendreon Investors, Be Patient:

....For the past two years, Dendreon has been largely a trading vehicle, exquisitely sensitive to all types of rumors and innuendo. It takes time to transition from that short-term mindset to a stock that is more suitable for investment.

Dendreon is in the transition period now. This week brought concrete clinical evidence that Provenge extends the lives of men with prostate cancer. The data are good and consistent. As I said earlier this week, Wall Street spent Tuesday afternoon looking for red flags in the Provenge data, but came up with very little of consequence.

....Dendreon is going to raise money, so understand that a financing overhang can weigh on the stock price until the deal gets done. When I talked to Dendreon CEO Mitch Gold Tuesday night, he was non-committal about when a financing would take place. (He also said he wants to raise money non-dilutively through the sales of Provenge's ex-U.S. rights.)

Arlene Albrecht said...

Joanie, here’s an excellent article on Provenge from nowpublic.com, written before the latest results were published, but it backs up everything you say. Here are some excerpts:

FDA IGNORES PATIENT'S RIGHTS - They prefer to burn us, poison us and mutilate us, as if we are experimental mammals that they can torture for their own financial enrichment.

1 in 6 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. When is the FDA going to allow men with prostate cancer who are out of options, access to Dendreon's Provenge, a safe, non toxic, non invasive immunotherapy that showed 20% survival in the sickest of men. Imagine what it could do in men who are not in late stage.

The FDA has delayed Provenge approval for almost 2 years now, despite an overwhelmingly postitive FDA Advisory Committee vote of 17-0 safe and 13-4 substantial evidence of efficacy, and an interim look 6 months ago at the "additional data" that they seek, which showed a 20% survival benefit.

Dendreon's (DNDN) Provenge final results will be disclosed by the end of April. Already Forbes' Matt Herper has published an article quoting for "statisticians" saying that Dendreon should have have disclosed that it showed 20% survival at the interim peek. Why wouldn't grown men and women want to shout it from the rooftops "PROVENGE HELPS MEN WITH PROSTATE CANCER". No. They want it delayed again. Unconscionable.
Unconscionable is right. This is another example of a news story that’s screaming to be told and nobody’s telling it!

Anonymous said...

Your essay is linked at Investor Village and is getting a lot of recommendations over there. Way to go!

Len Michelson said...

Jim Cramer has been bashing this stock for years. I wonder what it will take for him to turn around. Not that I care. His record of success in picking stocks is worse than mine.

Mr. Roland said...

I just checked Dendreon's web site and they sure do have a lot of job openings listed, from scientific ones to marketing, procurement, quality assurance, etc. Pretty ambitious for a young biotech. Something's in the wind. ;)

Thank you for the very informative column.

James Fasnacht said...

This drug sounds as though it does much better than the common chemo for late stage prostate cancer. Why then hasn't it been tested on earlier stage prostate cancer? Logic would dictate that its success rate would be even higher.

Pilgrim said...

I read your article this afternoon and did a little of my own DD afterwards. Then I bought a small number of DNDN shares. Warning: I'm usually the kiss of death for any stock I buy. :-)

I'm also a 64 year old male so I'd like to be able to use this vaccine if I ever become one of the 1 in 6.

Thanks for the information no matter which way it goes.

Anonymous said...

The real impact of IMPACT will be the validation of Dendreon’s Antigen Delivery Cassette and the potential impact it will have in the treatment of a variety of cancers.
Is it too early to say that Provenge‘s revolutionary science represents a paradigm shift?
Whatever, it appears certain that the established framework of oncology thinking will be challenged given the Provenge data presented at the AUA conference and that will be good for patients.

Meanwhile, The Provenge Story has exposed a heart of darkness in America that few imagined could ever exist. And beyond the story’s morality issues, our guardians know only too well that it is only a matter of time when America loses its competitive edge if we continue to allow hedge funds to eat our young –the nation’s hi-tech/biotech startups like Dendreon.

Shame on our House of the People; a house that is slowly looking more and more like a brothel….

co

Barry up the road said...

I was completely unaware of this potentially revolutionary drug and I am outraged by the story of greed told here.

The Fox News Senior Judicial analyst, Judge Andrew Napolitano, has begun to call for a constitutional convention to eliminate the income tax. There are many hazards to such a course but we MUST somehow take back the House of Representatives from the blaggards and charlatans who inhabit it. Starving them for $$$$$ may be the only tool we have at this time.

Anonymous said...

Joanie et al,

Your comments MUST be sent to President Obama's
office immediately

..for he has been wrongfully attacked at CNBC for badmouthing
some corrupt Hedgefunds and Wallstreeters

no_way_a_liberal said...

Very good analysis.

I'm not a "stock/investor person" or a legal mind, but this looks like conspiracy to commit fraud. Where is Andrew Cuomo when you really need him?

Frederick Emmerich said...

It's OUTRAGEOUS what the criminals in government and Wall Street can do to the little people - financially and to their health and very lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Humanity is traveling the downward slope.

Anonymous said...

I've made dozens of copies of this and I'll be mailing them to my senators, representatives, the SEC, FDA, White House, etc.

Thanks you.

PC survivor said...

Options -- and the whole financial system are increasingly being viewed with a jaundiced eye, as investors see the system as not only irrational, but completely gamed.

Just when the markets are trying to regain the public's trust -- on which they're dependent to provide capital to fuel growth and pay ancillary fees to those involved in the transactions -- the last thing they needed was a day like Dendreon (DNDN) experienced on Tuesday.
(continued here):

Den of Iniquity Takes Down Dendreon?

Claude said...

From Michael Murphy's "New World Investor":

David Miller of Biotech Stock Research published an interesting comparison of Taxotere and Provenge that makes it clear why Provenge will be approved and used. Taxotere requires 200 days of treatment with awful side effects in order to get less than 90 days of median survival.

Surveys show 35% to 65% of patients will not take Taxotere. Provenge requires 28 days for three infusions with minor side effects in order to get 123 days of median survival, with a 38% higher chance of being alive in three years.

David compared the major negatives of Taxotere as listed by doctors and patients, as well as the main benefits, to treatment with Provenge. There is simply no doubt that the FDA will approve the drug within six months of the Type 2 resubmission filing scheduled for the December quarter.

Manufacturing a personalized drug is different from what biotech investors are used to, but not necessarily any harder. There’s no new technology required here. It will cost more to make than most biotech drugs, which have a 95% profit margin. I think Provenge will have an 85% to 90% profit margin, and 85% of $1.5 billion in sales (US-only, on-label only) discounted back to today is plenty to get DNDN up to $40. Long-term investors can buy DNDN if it slips under $20 for my $40 target.

Anonymous said...

Like Joanie, I have followed the Provenge story closely for several years. The story is a shameful example of how the FDA has acquired absolute power that has been corrupted, with very serious consequences. The conflicts of interest were not minor. Large sums of money, and aggregation of power for illegitimate use, were involved). Violations of laws and/or regulations (through the FDA's leaking of confidential communications to aid in the defeat of Dendreon's marketing application) occurred. As someone who scoffs at conspiracy theorists, I am disinclined to believe that this could happen in America, but it did.

Joanie's essay, beautifully written, is accurate (though technically, Dendreon's BLA to be filed in the fourth quarter will be an "amendment" of its existing one, not "new"). Thanks, Joanie, for telling the story.

Anonymous said...

This story needs very wide circulation. You need to send it all over creation. Someone may pick it up and run with it.

Margaret said...

Schwester,

As a cancer warrior an survivor of two cancers, I would add only one slight emphasis. Taxotere, used as "treatment" for several types of cancer is not as targeted as one might think and is, like most chemotherapy, a systemic poison, as evidenced by its body-wide side effects. No matter what my future brings, no one will ever put these poisons into my body again with my permission.

I have my doubts about Provenge making it to the market in any timely fashion because, if I am not mistaken, Dendreon was recently purchased by Eli Lilly, maker of other chemotherapy agents, and thus perhaps part of the chemotherapy cabal. If my fears are born out, Eli Lilly may have bought Dendreon with the intent of stifling an effective treatment to maintain a lock on chemotherapy's hold over the cancer treatment market. I hope I am wrong, but my faith in the right things happening in this arena has waned.

No slouch of a writer in my own right, I am, as always awed by your gift with the written word, your dedication to extensive factual research and your ability to present your knowledge effectively. Joanie, you rock!

Blessings and hugs

joanie said...

D.L.,

Thank you for adding the excellent insights from Pipeline.

In addition to their commentary of Dendreon's crash, Bloomberg also did an incredible exposé on naked shorting and what it can do to small business (has done to overstock.com) and the average retail investor. It'll curl your hair:

Phantom Shares

joanie said...

KDDublin:

Thank you for your input regarding the Prostate Cancer Foundation!

That organization has been of absolutely no help in getting this innovative, life-extending (and quality of life improving) vaccine to the market. Absolutely none.

Which is just another reason that one must thoroughly investigate the effectiveness and focus of any charity to which one contributes.

Some are mired in cash and doing nothing effective with it.

joanie said...

Stonemason, thanks for the excellent link. I read it earlier today and have already shared with others some of the facts presented there.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Arlene Albrecht said:

This is another example of a news story that’s screaming to be told and nobody’s telling it!


Amen, Arlene!

~ joanie

joanie said...

Cal Brindisi said:

I don't remember the exact statistics, but every man over the age of forty needs to get a prostate exam and a regular blood test because a huge percentage will develope prostate cancer in their lifetimes.


Every man over fifty should get a routine annual PSA test. For those with a family history of PC, the tests should begin at forty.

As with most cancers, early detection is imperative!

~ joanie

joanie said...

Len Michelson said:

Jim Cramer has been bashing this stock for years. I wonder what it will take for him to turn around. Not that I care. His record of success in picking stocks is worse than mine.


Bears constant drum-beat repeating!

Cramer is an entertainer, not a successful market analyst.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Mr. Roland said:

I just checked Dendreon's web site and they sure do have a lot of job openings listed, from scientific ones to marketing, procurement, quality assurance, etc. Pretty ambitious for a young biotech. Something's in the wind. ;)


Mr. Roland, below is Dendreon's current 'career opportunities' listing. Once the naysayers and roadblockers get out of the way, expect it to grow exponentially over the next year or so. :)

Associate Director, Market Insights Seattle

Associate Director, Product Marketing

Capital Projects Procurement Specialist

(2) Cell Processing Associate I/II

Contract Manufacturing Sr. Manager/Associate Director RTP

Director, Quality Assurance

Document Control Administrator I/II

Facilities Engineer

Facilities Manager

Financial Analyst

Human Resources Manager

LIMS Administrator (Business Analyst)

(2) Manager, Cost Accounting

Manager, Quality Control Bioassay - Shift II

Manufacturing Supervisor

Medical Science Liaison

Medical Science Liaison Manager

Medical Writer (TEMP)

Metrology/Calibration Systems Specialist

Principal Quality Engineer

Professional Services Associate

Professional Services Manager

QA Associate I/II

QA Associate I/II - Shift II

QA Manager - Compliance

QA Manager - Product Complaint Program

(2) QA Supervisor - Shift II

QC Associate I/II - Bioassay

QC Associate I/II - Microbiology

QC Associate I/II Bioassay - Shift II

QC Supervisor - Bioassay - Shift II

(2) Recruiting Coordinator

Senior Administrative Assistant

Senior Cell Processing Associate I/II

Senior Document Control Administrator I/II

(2) Senior Facilities Mechanic

Senior Human Resources Manager

Senior Manager, Quality Control

Senior QA Associate I,II - Apheresis

Senior QA Associate I,II - Audits

Senior QA Associate I,II - Compliance

Senior QA Associate I,II - ERP

(2) Senior QA Associate I,II - Training

Senior QC Associate - Stability & Assay Validation

joanie said...

Pilgrim said:

I read your article this afternoon and did a little of my own DD afterwards. Then I bought a small number of DNDN shares. Warning: I'm usually the kiss of death for any stock I buy. :-)

I'm also a 64 year old male so I'd like to be able to use this vaccine if I ever become one of the 1 in 6.


Thank you for sharing that!

~ joanie

joanie said...

Anonymous said:

The real impact of IMPACT will be the validation of Dendreon’s Antigen Delivery Cassette and the potential impact it will have in the treatment of a variety of cancers.

Is it too early to say that Provenge‘s revolutionary science represents a paradigm shift?

Whatever, it appears certain that the established framework of oncology thinking will be challenged given the Provenge data presented at the AUA conference and that will be good for patients.

Meanwhile, The Provenge Story has exposed a heart of darkness in America that few imagined could ever exist. And beyond the story’s morality issues, our guardians know only too well that it is only a matter of time when America loses its competitive edge if we continue to allow hedge funds to eat our young –the nation’s hi-tech/biotech startups like Dendreon.

Shame on our House of the People; a house that is slowly looking more and more like a brothel ...


Very well said.

You not only have a wonderful grasp (perhaps much better than my own) of Dendreon's potential contribution to the battle against cancers of all kinds, but an equally realistic understanding of the extent of the corruption and greed infesting our leadership at all levels.

Thank you for the eloquent insights.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Barry Up the Road said:

I was completely unaware of this potentially revolutionary drug and I am outraged by the story of greed told here.

The Fox News Senior Judicial analyst, Judge Andrew Napolitano, has begun to call for a constitutional convention to eliminate the income tax. There are many hazards to such a course but we MUST somehow take back the House of Representatives from the blaggards and charlatans who inhabit it. Starving them for $$$$$ may be the only tool we have at this time.
Thanks, Barry.

While I respect Judge Napolitano, I think his (and others') calls for a constitutional convention are falling on deaf ears. Bone-deep corruption in leadership, and bone-deep apathy among a populace, aren't conducive to such drastic (albeit necessary!) action.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Thanks for the excellent link, PC Survivor. I wish you all the best in your continuing good health! :)

~ joanie

joanie said...

Anonymous said:

Like Joanie, I have followed the Provenge story closely for several years. The story is a shameful example of how the FDA has acquired absolute power that has been corrupted, with very serious consequences. The conflicts of interest were not minor. Large sums of money, and aggregation of power for illegitimate use, were involved). Violations of laws and/or regulations (through the FDA's leaking of confidential communications to aid in the defeat of Dendreon's marketing application) occurred. As someone who scoffs at conspiracy theorists, I am disinclined to believe that this could happen in America, but it did.

... technically, Dendreon's BLA to be filed in the fourth quarter will be an "amendment" of its existing one, not "new" ...


Thanks, anonymous, for the additional valuable input regarding the conflicts of interest that led to the need for IMPACT.

And thanks, also, for the 'amended' vs. 'new' correction. I am aware that the BLA is simply being amended but it was indeed a poor choice of words. (Have corrected the essay.) :)

~ joanie

joanie said...

Claude, David Miller has provided honest analysis of Dendreon and its product for years. As such he has been a godsend! Thank you for quoting some of his wisdom here!

~ joanie

joanie said...

Margaret, although there were recent rumors circulating regaring the possibility, Eli Lily has not (God forbid!) purchased Dendreon.

Lily has a history of buying out fledgling biotechs at prices that rob the shareholders of real (and future) value.

Many Denderon shareholders are hoping that, rather than a buyout, Dendreon will opt for a partnership -- both here in America and in Europe/Asia.

IMO, the company will need capital, but needs to remain intact.

~ joanie

Anonymous said...

Dendreon Stock Class Action Suit regarding the stock crash, from Motley Fool:

I am in the process of formally demanding an SEC investigation of this 'stop hunter' scheme where someone/competitor hiding behing a pseudonym and/or potential hedge fund collusion, dumped a couple of million shares causing the stock price to go down, triggering every trailing stop on the way, taking it all the way to $7.50.

The objective is to recover the hugh amount of money lost by legitimate investors with stop losses in place and prosecute those already mentioned along with naked call writers closing out option positions they couldn't cover by stealing shares with stop orders on the way down.

This insider legalized theft practice must be ended.

Then the Nasdaq resumed trading 'After Hours' when most brokerage houses are closed, allowing the hedge funds to buy back the stock at a much lower price and ride it right back up, enabling them to make money in both directions when most folks do not have access to their brokers.

By the way, my broker observed considerable trading occurring between 13:27(trading halted) and 13:45pm???? That's a considerably wider window beyond the 70 seconds to the stocks low point described by Bloomberg news.

If all this matters to you honest folks, consider first what the ethical cause all of us where investing in - LIFE.

If you care..kindly respond and join me in a class action suit to overturn the Nasdaq's decision to void the trades.

Anonymous said...

In the Los Angeles Times of all places:

Study bolsters hopes for prostate cancer vaccine rejected by FDA

The vaccine, Provenge, extended life an average of four months, nearly twice as long as the best available chemotherapy, researchers say....

"This is going to change the way we treat . . . metastatic prostate cancer," said Dr. David Penson, a urologist at USC's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center. "Any patient who has this form of cancer, this is the drug they are going to want, and it is going to be first-line therapy."

"This will be much easier for patients than going through chemotherapy because there are no side effects," added Dr. Stanton Gerson, director of the University Hospitals Ireland Cancer Center in Cleveland. Prostate cancer patients "have never had cell therapy or a vaccine as an option before. Now they will."

Dr. Jonathan W. Simons, president of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, said in an e-mailed statement, "The results validate 16 years of modern research to harness a patient's own immune system to fight their prostate cancer."

Both Penson and Gerson participated in the study, but neither has financial links to Dendreon Corp. of Seattle, which developed Provenge. The foundation provided support for some of the initial research on the vaccine....

Dendreon officials said they would reapply to the FDA sometime this year. They have not said how much the therapy might cost. An estimated 186,000 American men develop prostate cancer each year, and about 28,660 die of it.

Anonymous said...

Cancer Patients Deserve Faster Access to Lifesaving Drugs from the Wall Street Journal.

Anonymous said...

A note on last week's large number of insider stock trades in DNDN (from Jon Ogg):

There was an interesting twist in the ongoing Dendreon Corp. (NASDAQ: DNDN) story that developed after 5:00 PM Friday. There was a whole series of FORM 4 filings that were put into the SEC for insider transactions. While it is obvious that most of these were option being exercised and company stock grants, it was hard to not notice how many insiders sold stock. If the insiders sold this many shares, it is very likely that other company employees sold as well. This is probably not such a surprise when you have a company’s stock rise tenfold from the lows and when many employees become instant stock option millionaires. But still, there is the hope that Dendreon will have a blockbuster drug for advanced prostate cancer after (and if) PROVENGE is approved by the FDA at some point in 2010. There are many who believe that Dendreon might even now be a takeover target. Considering that, does it at least make you wonder if employees are taking this much money out of the stock?

Mark W Frohlich, SVP, CA, Officer, sold 9,482 shares that were listed as $4.90 purchase price and on 04/30/2009 sold at $22.00; still has 178,874 listed as direct shares.

Greg Cox, Principal Accounting Officer, sold 5,625 shares that were listed as $5.58 purchase price and on 4/29/2009 sold at $26.82; sold 1,413 shares that were listed as $4.30 purchase price and on same date sold at $26.82; also sold 1,756 that were listed as $6.39 purchase price and on same date sold at $26.82; There were two other batches of 9,578 shares and 2,164 shares thatwere both sold on same date at $26.82; total remaining shares were noted as 24,571.

Douglas Watson, Director, sold some 99,400 shares at prices all listed as $23.3399, and these were listed with purchase prices of $1.82 to $14.25.

Mitchell Gold, President & CEO, was a very large seller. The list of transactions was long, but there was a block of 250,000 shares which were listed with a purchase price of $7.56 and were sold at an average of $24.9206. The rest of the shares sold look to tally up around 350,000 shares with purchase prices ranging from $4.41 to $9.25 and those were also sold at an average price of $24.9206. He is still noted as holding 486,536 shares of company stock.

Richard Brewer, Director, sold what looked to be 104,171 shares of common stock on 4/29/2009 in a range of prices from $24.28 to $25.45, and the listed purchase prices were $4.90 to $14.488.

Blake Ingle, Director, sold over 95,000 shares of common stock on 4/29/2009 in a range of prices from $23.2939 to $24.3135, and the listed purchase prices were $2.98 to $12.14.

Gregory Schiffman, Senior VP, CFO & Treasurer, sold 90,000 shares of of common stock on 4/29/2009 at an average price of $23.2612 and no purchase price was listed; his stock ownership is still listed as 261,316 shares.

Richard Hamm Jr., SVP, General Counsel Secretary, sold 20,000 shares of common stock on 4/29/2009 at an average of $24.0298 per share and no purchase price was listed; his stock ownership is still listed as 240,878 shares.

It is not uncommon at all to see insider un-lock periods like this, particularly after a large news event occurs. You can look these over yourself at the SEC link.

This traded under $3.00 recently, yet after the PROVENGE data it traded up as high as $27.40 and closed out the week at $22.01. Some analysts believe the company is now worth over $30.00 and we saw one target north of $40.00. We would not at all consider that this represents an outright insider exodus. It is not uncommon to see insiders take money off the table like this. But with PROVENGE being the next potential blockbuster and with some thinking that Dendreon could be acquired, it is hard to not notice transactions of this size where insiders take this much money off the table.

3timesalady said...

Joanie, I have to admit that when I first started reading this article I thought "This stock stuff doesn't belong on a political blog." But I was wrong. It just goes to show how the corruption and lying is infecting every area of our society.

Like one of the other posters, I wonder how the manipulators are going to feel when they come down with prostate cancer (and a good many of them will) and this effective vaccine isn't available to them. I won't waste any tears.

Honest John said...

This is an AWESOME summary of the criminality that has plagued this stock for years and years!

Thank you for the time it took to put this together. I hope it gets widespread circulation.

joanie said...

James Fasnacht said:

This drug sounds as though it does much better than the common chemo for late stage prostate cancer. Why then hasn't it been tested on earlier stage prostate cancer? Logic would dictate that its success rate would be even higher.


An excellent question, James.

From Pharmawire:

All of the experts seem to agree that there could be an increased response observed in patients with earlier stage disease, noted an industry executive. The tumor mutates in ways that create an immunosuppressive effect, and it stifles a patient's ability to respond to therapy, the executive said. Also, patients with metastatic disease have received previous courses of radiation and chemotherapies, which prevent them from responding, he added.

"We think that if we progress to earlier stage patients, patients who do not have a high tumor recurrence, we believe that these types of patients are more likely to be responsive," the executive said. "I think that this phenomenon is true across the class of cancer therapeutics." …

… It would be feasible to use the vaccine in an earlier setting, but it would be very expensive, agreed Dr Patrick Schoffski, the head of the department of general medical oncology at the Leuven Cancer Institute in Belgium. Treating earlier stage patients would open the door to a much larger market, Schoffski said.

A spokesperson for a company developing a cancer vaccine noted that overall survival is much easier to monitor in late-stage patients, who are near death, because companies only have to follow patients for a few months to determine whether there's an effect. In the metastatic setting companies will have to monitor patients for two years whereas in the earlier setting companies may need to follow patients for ten years, the spokesperson said.

John Cooper said...

I think the recent post by 'anonymous' is an example of the mis(and dis)information surrounding Dendreon.

Insiders sell stock all the time - to put their kids through college, pay off loans, or in the case of Dendreon, actually get paid for all their hard work.

I wonder who 'anonymous' works for. I use my real name. Why doesn't he (or she)?

joanie said...

Anonymous:

The large majority of those insider stock sales on 4/29 were the result of stock options having been exercised and the shares being sold at a handsome profit.

Such action is not unusual after a major positive announcement from a company.

When a stock has gone up almost tenfold over a matter of just a few months, one can hardly blame insiders for taking a nice profit. And, if you carefully examine the holdings of those who sold, you will see that most of them still hold a handsome number of shares (I would venture to guess, from just a cursory examination of their sales, vs. their continued holdings, that the majority of them sold fewer than ten percent of their shares).

Also, with all that lies ahead for Dendreon over the coming months (progress toward FDA approval of Provenge, the probability of a partnership, interest in Europe and Asia, increased focus on other products in their pipeline, etc.), this selling window may have provided a rare opportunity for insiders to sell at least a small portion of their appreciated shares. Major future announcements would quite likely prohibit anything other than planned sells in the near term.

I don’t know that your purpose in posting Ogg’s column was bashing. If it was, I suspect you won’t receive a lot of support here. If it was simply informative, I thank you for your contribution to the discussion.

~ joanie

M said...

Off Topic (kind of, but I need to vent)---

Regarding the economy in general---

The Fed and Treasury have duct taped this market but the truth always comes out meantime in the realworld....Pakistan is a horror,
we can't even fight some illiterate pirates in dorys.......with the greatest navy in the world.....a few
assassinations haven't turned the tide....Europe is sinking fast....unemployment is going thru the roof.....GM and Chrysler Bk......bank lending down 23% from before the bailouts......


They can huff and puff and try to keep the walls from tumbling down, they can use superglue and duct
tape but the end is near for the government's efforts to bullshit the world that our financial problems and foreign invasion initiatives are going well.......

it is all bullshit.

And housing has another 30% to fall........if you don't have a job......you can't pay.

ZBG said...

Joanie, I think that list of career openings is very telling.

Maybe something big is afoot. The money to guarantee these jobs is in hand, and we just don't know how yet?

The large increase in job openings was timed to start after the market closed on Friday. And there is a whole new batch of people offering sober advice about just how long all this is going to take to play out. I'm betting it's not going to take long at all.

joanie said...

M:

I can't say that I disagree with one word of your rant, but you need to sit down, take a deep breath, look around at your loved ones, count your blessings, and determine those aspects of your life over which you do and do not have control. Don't minimize the blessings by obsessing over things that you have no power to affect.

Believe me ... I came to this realization the hard way (and still have to get booster shots now and then in order to maintain a firm grasp on the hard-earned lesson). :)

~ joanie

joanie said...

ZBG:

You may be right. It would be a very pleasant turn of events in a cycle that has enjoyed very few. :)

~ joanie

A.B. said...

Jim Cramer is going to be having the CEO of the Nasdaq on his show sometime this week to "explain" DNDN's drop as they see it.

That the CEO of Nasdaq would appear on Cramer's show tells me all I need to know about the organization.

I'd prefer to see him (and Cramer) on C-Span. At a Congressional hearing.

angelo said...

Dear Joan,

An investor’s response:

I am coming into this discussion a few days late, but have looked over several comments made here. (Joan you are always the smartest one in the room).

Speaking here as an individual investor, I know very little about the Bio-tech field and have only recently become an investor in DNDN; let me make a few comments. I sold my DNDN between $20 and $26.50, most of it before the market opens and after hours. This I find is when stocks can get higher bids, especially when the news was coming out after the close.

DNDN reminds me of a small Airport security company called InVision that I researched and invested in after 9/11. You see their machines at the airport. They scan the luggage before it is loaded onto the plane belly.
I was convinced that it had the best explosive detection technology, AND THEY DO!

But the stock was constantly manipulated, or so I suspected. It went from $1 to $49 and then back to the teens several times before GE bought them out at $43 per share.

I managed to get whiplashed several times. What I learned from this and other episodes is that ‘You take what the market gives you.’ And that eventually the ‘market will prove to do the right thing, but not necessarily when we want it to.’

There is a book in my library called Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, by Charles MacKay. It has been a while since I read it, but it goes back to the 1600’s on how man has been dishonest and manipulated stock markets. A very good read, and very similar to what we sometimes see today. I understand the book is a must read on Wall Street.

So DNDN hit its old highs that we saw a few years ago ($25-$27 range) and now it has come down to around $20. If a buyout comes soon the stock can go higher, if not then it can drift much lower over the summer. If it gets into the low teens gain then I will repurchase it in anticipation of a buyout or fourth quarter FDA news.

Regards…Angelo

EEI said...

Re: Last week's insider sales:

One thing may be interesting about the sales from a legal perspective. If insiders sell, DNDN cannot do a secondary offering in the following weeks. But if they sell they can do something that would make the stock price go up. The reasoning is insiders cannot do things they might profit from when material news is pending. If they sell and the stock tanks on news (like a secondary offering), they will at the least be sued in numerous class actions.

DNDN needs cash. The sells mean there is likely not a secondary offering for at least a month. What option does that leave other than a partnership? DNDN CEO siad that the company preferred to get its cash from a partner and not from a secondary.

FWIW.

Anonymous said...

From Mike Huckman at CNBC:

Whenever a politician, government agency or company puts out news late on a Friday chances are it probably isn't good or it's stuff they'd like to just slip under the door. That's when they like to dump stuff that will usually get less attention over a weekend news cycle when readers/viewers are distracted and/or catch reporters after their deadlines. Of course, they'll deny the ulterior motive, but it's a tried and true media relations practice.

So, should investors be all that surprised that Friday evening, May 1st, Dendreon revealed that eight top execs and Directors unloaded a bunch of stock on April 29th and 30th, the two days following the release of the positive test results on the company's prostate cancer treatment?

CEO Dr. Mitchell Gold cashed in more than half a million shares. He's now a multi-millionaire. But the windfall is raising at least a few eyebrows. One shareholder emailed me saying, "This is kind of annoying if you're a (Dendreon) bull." However, these guys have probably been out of the money for years. I did a quick search and couldn't find any previous stock sales by Dr. Gold. And given the unpredictable, rocky history of Provenge, can you blame him/them for pocketing some cash after the huge run-up in the shares? I'm not making a judgment call there, I'm just raising the question.

Is it a signal about the fate of Provenge and the company? Based on their recent commentary, analysts would answer that with a unanimous "No." They all seem to think that FDA approval of the treatment is all but certain and that Dendreon's attractiveness as a partner or takeout target has gone, or will go, way up.

According to the company's proxy statement Dr. Gold received total compensation of $1.6 million last year. His package dropped slightly in 2007 to $1.23 million from $1.29 million in 2006. The statement also says Dr. Gold has (or had) as much as a 1.5% stake in the company. Wouldn't investors have more cause for concern if it turned out the CEO and others tried to thin their holdings (not that they could have) during that frenzied, two-minute cliff-drop last Tuesday before the data came out?

daveburkett said...

Sent to me in an email by someone I had sent your article to:

Carnies and the RubesI suspect there were a handful of smug bastards who were “high-fiving” after last Tuesday’s whipsaw of DNDN stock price. They probably made money on the way down and again when it went back up. How many million dollars were made (or lost) that afternoon?


It was like the carnies watching the rubes with pockets full of cash strolling down the sawdust midway. The rubes were warned about margin and stops - but the naive think it won’t happen to them. The money was there for the taking. And they took it because they could.


Now normally the rubes have the town cop and the county sheriff on their side. But here it seems the law enforcement agencies work for the carnies. Because after all, who can make real money being just a public servant?


So what’s a rube to do? We are basically helpless without law enforcement’s diligent effort to protect the investor as opposed to Wall St. And we need the “up tick rule” reinstated, the “Madoff exemption” eliminated, and shorts must be required to disclose positions just as the longs are required.


Without changes this will happen again. Was this type of price action legal? I don’t know. Should it be illegal, yes.


And, oh, by the way. Who best fits the bill as the greatest carny barker on the Midway? Lets see, someone with a fast talking loud mouth, wild gesticulating arms, sound effects, bug eyes and a baboon butt like face? Okay, every one now on the count of three….

Anonymous said...

Some people are speculating that the weekend plethora of Dendreon job positions might indicate an imminent partnership.

There must be more to it. If Dendreon had a partnership deal to be announced tomorrow, that would not by itself necessitate so many DNDN hirings geared toward increased production quickly.

IMHO, a better explanation is DNDN expects to receive FDA go-ahead shortly in some form, if they do not already have it. Today they may be fine-tuning the announcement.

Buster said...

You make a lot of sense, Angelo.

For your sake, I hope the stock dips down to where you can pick it up again before the FDA approves Provenge.

For late-stange prostate cancers sufferers, I hope approval comes tomorrow.

Buster said...

GREAT article about Dendreon:

http://singularityhub.com/2009/05/04/company-uses-nanobots-to-fight-cancerbut-its-not-at-all-what-you-thought-it-would-be/

joanie said...

Check out this excellent interview with David Penson, M.D., of the University of Southern California, voicing his opinion of the results of the latest clinical trial of Provenge. He can hardly control his enthusiasm.

joanie said...

Anonymous, thank you for the link to the class action lawsuit.

I have little faith in such suits, mainly because the attorneys generally wind up reaping significantly more benefit than the plaintiffs, and also because many of them go nowhere.

I believe there are excellent grounds for such a suit, but it will be difficult to specify defendant(s) (other than the NASDAQ and the SEC).

Will check out your link, though, and thanks for being pro-active in seeking action in behalf of the shareholders and patients.

~ joanie

joanie said...

A.B. said:

Jim Cramer is going to be having the CEO of the Nasdaq on his show sometime this week to "explain" DNDN's drop as they see it.

That the CEO of Nasdaq would appear on Cramer's show tells me all I need to know about the organization.

I'd prefer to see him (and Cramer) on C-Span. At a Congressional hearing.


ROTFLOL! I heartily second your motion!

~ joanie

joanie said...

Angelo,

Thanks for your veteran-investor insights. I always view them as worthy of careful consideration.

Your InVision story is very interesting.

You may do very well by watching the decline of DNDN over the summer, and I suspect that you may indeed be able to jump back in in the low teens.

The only thing that may keep you from doing so is the announcement of a partnership in the interim, which will send the stock soaring.

For that reason, I am hanging onto my shares -- although, should your low-teens scenario pan out, I may add to my holdings at the same time that you're buying back in. :)

~ joanie

joanie said...

Thanks for the kind words, Honest John. :)

~ joanie

joanie said...

3timesalady said:

Like one of the other posters, I wonder how the manipulators are going to feel when they come down with prostate cancer (and a good many of them will) and this effective vaccine isn't available to them. I won't waste any tears.


I've wondered the same thing, 3timesalady.

Prostate cancer is the second deadliest form of cancer for men. One in three will experience it in their lifetimes.

Don't these people who are consistently throwing up roadblocks realize that they themselves (or someone they love) may well benefit from this revolutionary treatment? Or is the lure of current financial benefit more valuable to them?

You raise a very interesting point.

~ joanie

joanie said...

EEI said:

Re: Last week's insider sales:

One thing may be interesting about the sales from a legal perspective. If insiders sell, DNDN cannot do a secondary offering in the following weeks. But if they sell they can do something that would make the stock price go up. The reasoning is insiders cannot do things they might profit from when material news is pending. If they sell and the stock tanks on news (like a secondary offering), they will at the least be sued in numerous class actions.

DNDN needs cash. The sells mean there is likely not a secondary offering for at least a month. What option does that leave other than a partnership? DNDN CEO siad that the company preferred to get its cash from a partner and not from a secondary.


You make some very interesting points, EEI, none of which I can disagree with.

Also interesting: Today Denderon announced that it converted 2.14mm shares for $21.2mm convertible (representing about 25% of the convertible position of the 4.75% due 2014), getting rid of at least some liability. So something (however small) is in the wind.

~ joanie

joanie said...

Dave Burkett:

I absolutely love the 'Carnies and Rubes' analogy! (Visions of Jim Cramer were dancing in my head long before the author asked, 'Who best fits the bill as the greatest carny barker on the Midway?') :)

Thanks for the much-needed comic relief!

~ joanie

joanie said...

Thanks for the link, Buster. Will check it out later today when I can set aside sufficient time.

~ joanie

robmaroni said...

I like that Penson interview, Joanie. It brings the whole issue down to a layman's level.

Anonymous said...

Dendreon partied at a medical meeting last week in Chicago after it showed that its immune-stimulating therapy could extend the lives of prostate cancer patients with minimal side effects. Now the biotech company is fast at work again, looking to hire 60 new people to make sure it performs all the work necessary to turn its drug into a blockbuster.

The Seattle-based company (NASDAQ: DNDN) has posted almost all of these new positions on its website in the past week. It is looking to fill 37 spots at headquarters, another 32 at its commercial manufacturing plant in Morris Plains, NJ, and one person in Research Triangle Park, NC, where it has an important relationship with a supplier. Dendreon had just 198 total employees at last count on March 2, so this represents a 30 percent expansion.

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2009/05/06/dendreon-goes-on-hiring-binge-after-prostate-cancer-drug-boosts-survival/

Anonymous said...

Last night Jim Cramer said that 'Provenge has been approved.' Either he's an idiot (a sure bet) or he has insider information. ;)

See the video.

Anonymous said...

Lengthy but very interesting on DNDN.

http://www.deepcapture.com/michael-milken-60000-deaths-and-the-story-of-dendreon-chapter-8-of-15/