I have to applaud the patience and diligence of the folks running Dendreon (Nasdaq:DNDN). After years of setbacks and complications (including three Phase 3 studies), the company and its investors finally saw the big payoff as the FDA approved the first-ever cancer vaccine - Provenge.
With Provenge now on the market, and the squabbling and speculating about reimbursement fully underway, the question moves to who might be next to advance a cancer vaccine to the market. Is this really a major new avenue of oncology, or is it a small access road along the bigger highway of traditional drugs?
For the complete column, please go to:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/Cancer-Vaccines-Continue-To-Show-Promise-DNDN-SNY-GSK-VICL-CLDX-PFE-GERN0707.aspx
There has been no shortage of hype regarding the possible therapeutic uses of stem cells. To date, though, there has been a lot more hope than clinical results, no doubt in part to research restrictions imposed by the prior U.S. presidential administration. While companies ranging from the huge Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) to the much, much smaller Osiris Therapeutics (Nasdaq:OSIR) and StemCells (Nasdaq:STEM) are gamely trying, it may be a decade (if ever) before we have any late-stage clinical success stories to talk about with stem cell therapies.
That does not mean, however, that stem cells may not have a major role in medicine and drug development long before then. One of the more interesting concepts in development right now concerns the use of stem cells in the drug design, validation and testing process. If successful, stem cells could significantly alter the preclinical drug development process and lead companies to more successful clinical trials and more productive drug development.
The full article can be read at:
http://stocks.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/2010/The-Future-Of-Stem-Cells-PFE-OSIR-STEM-CRL-AZN-GSK-GERN-LIFE0615.aspx
