SEATTLE, June 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dendreon Corporation (Nasdaq: DNDN) announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today initiated a National Coverage Analysis (NCA) of PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T), an autologous cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic, castrate-resistant (hormone-refractory) prostate cancer (CRPC). PROVENGE is the first in a new therapeutic class known as autologous cellular immunotherapies.

In CMS's announcement of the NCA, CMS is requesting public comments on the effects of PROVENGE on health outcomes in patients with prostate cancer. It is not a change in Medicare coverage policy.

NCAs do not impact existing coverage decisions, nor do they restrict local Medicare contractors from covering PROVENGE. Therefore, Medicare beneficiaries are still able to access PROVENGE and private payers can also still cover PROVENGE.

Dendreon welcomes the opportunity to continue our discussions with CMS about how PROVENGE will be provided to Medicare beneficiaries, particularly given the survival benefit and safety profile of PROVENGE. We plan on continuing to work closely with CMS during this process to ensure patients with advanced prostate cancer have broad access to PROVENGE.

Clinical Trial Results Supporting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approval

Three Phase 3 studies involving 737 patients were submitted to FDA to support licensure. The pivotal study was the Phase 3 IMPACT (IMmunotherapy for Prostate AdenoCarcinoma Treatment) trial (D9902B), a 512-patient, multi-center, randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled study that evaluated men with asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, metastatic CRPC. PROVENGE extended median survival beyond two-years, demonstrating a median improvement of 4.1 months compared to the control group (25.8 months versus 21.7 months). Overall, PROVENGE reduced the risk of death by 22.5 percent compared to the control group (HR=0.775). Results from the similarly designed Study D9901 in asymptomatic metastatic CRPC also demonstrated a survival advantage of similar clinical magnitude as the IMPACT study.

PROVENGE Safety

PROVENGE is intended solely for autologous use and is not routinely tested for transmissible infectious diseases.

The safety evaluation of PROVENGE was based on 601 prostate cancer patients in four randomized clinical trials who underwent at least one leukapheresis procedure. The most common adverse events (incidence greater than or equal to 15%) are chills, fatigue, fever, back pain, nausea, joint ache, and headache. Serious adverse events reported in the PROVENGE group include acute infusion reactions (occurring within 1 day of infusion) and cerebrovascular events. In controlled clinical trials, severe (Grade 3) acute infusion reactions were reported in 3.5% of patients in the PROVENGE group. Reactions included chills, fever, fatigue, asthenia, dyspnea, hypoxia, bronchospasm, dizziness, headache, hypertension, muscle ache, nausea, and vomiting. No Grade 4 or 5 acute infusion reactions were reported in patients in the PROVENGE group.

To fulfill a post marketing requirement and as a part of the company's ongoing commitment to patients, Dendreon will conduct a registry of approximately 1,500 patients to further evaluate a small potential safety signal of cerebrovascular events. In four randomized clinical trials of PROVENGE in prostate cancer patients, cerebrovascular events were observed in 3.5% of patients in the PROVENGE group compared with 2.6% of patients in the control group.

About Dendreon

Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company targeting cancer and transforming lives through the discovery, development, commercialization and manufacturing of novel therapeutics. The Company applies its expertise in antigen identification, engineering and cell processing to produce active cellular immunotherapy product candidates designed to stimulate an immune response in a variety of tumor types. Dendreon's first autologous cellular immunotherapy product, PROVENGE(R) (sipuleucel-T), was approved by the FDA in April 2010 for the treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate resistant (hormone refractory) prostate cancer. Dendreon also is developing an orally-available small molecule that targets TRPM8 that could be applicable to multiple types of cancer. The Company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington and is traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the symbol DNDN. For more information about the Company and its programs, visit www.dendreon.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, developments affecting Dendreon's business and prospects, including commercialization of PROVENGE. 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, which are available at www.sec.gov. Dendreon cautions investors not to place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. All forward-looking statements are based on information currently available to Dendreon on the date hereof, and Dendreon undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release, except as required by law.

SOURCE Dendreon Corporation