Shares of Dendreon Corp., a Seattle biotechnology company that’s building a plant in Seal Beach, shot up Thursday after regulators approved its new prostate cancer treatment.
Dendreon shares closed up Thursday nearly 27% with a market value of $6.7 billion.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Provenge, Dendreon’s drug that trains the body’s immune system to fight prostate cancer. Provenge is called a “vaccine,” even though it treats cancer rather than prevents it.
Dendreon is building its Seal Beach plant at the Pacific Gateway Business Center near the Garden Grove (22) Freeway to produce Provenge and expects to finish it by the end of 2010.
Plans call for several hundred jobs, 36 workstations and the capability to make $375 million to $750 million worth of Provenge a year, Greg Schiffman, Dendreon’s chief financial officer, said in an interview earlier this year.
Approval of Provenge, which is designed for men whose prostate cancer has spread and is resistant to most traditional forms of treating the disease, was expected.
Provenge is Dendreon’s first commercial product.
Dendreon makes it from white blood cells harvested from individual patients. After each patient’s cells are harvested, they are sent to Dendreon’s plants, which will convert them to Provenge and then return it to the doctor’s office for treatment.
