News Release

Long-term data on Dendreon’s Mylovenge™ vaccine presented at American Society of Hematology

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Noonan/Russo Communications

Long-term data on Dendreon’s Mylovenge™ vaccine presented at American Society of Hematology Meeting

Results of Phase II studies indicate disease stabilization in patients with multiple myeloma, amyloidosis

San Francisco, CA (Dec. 2, 2000) – Dendreon Corporation today announced that long-term follow-up data from Phase II trials of its therapeutic vaccine Mylovenge™ were presented at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The trials, involving patients with multiple myeloma and with amyloidosis, indicate that Mylovenge causes regression or stabilization in more than 30 percent of patients. In some patients, these benefits were found to extend more than 18 months following treatment.

Data were presented Saturday at the American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting in San Francisco by Dr. Martha Lacy of the Mayo Clinic, principal investigator of studies involving multiple myeloma and amyloidosis patients by and Dr. Malcolm MacKenzie, director of the Sacramento Medical Foundation Blood Center and principal investigator of a multi-center trial involving further patients with multiple myeloma.

In MacKenzie’s multicenter trial, approximately 40 percent of the 42 multiple myeloma patients evaluated have shown benefits either in terms of disease stabilization or in tumor regression. This includes six patients with decreases in serum M protein and 10 patients with disease stabilization more than six months. Four patients have been stable for more than 18 months following treatment.

In the Mayo trial of multiple myeloma patients, 17 patients were treated with Mylovenge. Clinical responses were seen in five patients, including complete or near-complete regressions. Many of these responses continued for more than one year.

In a further Mayo trial, 10 patients with amyloidosis were treated with Mylovenge. Seven had disease stabilization or regression lasting in four cases for 18 months or longer.

"Responses such as these are impressive especially considering that these patients have residual disease that has proven to be resistant to aggressive, high-dose chemotherapy,” said Frank Valone, M.D., senior vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs at Dendreon. “The treatment also continues to be very well tolerated by patients – a departure from the side effects associated with the chemotherapy or radiation treatments they have received for their disease.”

The therapeutic vaccine Mylovenge is designed to trigger the body's immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. It involves isolating dendritic cells from a patient's blood and activating them with a protein, called an M component or idiotype, that is specific for each patient. The activated dendritic cells are infused back into the patient to stimulate an immune response.

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About Multiple Myeloma
Multiple myeloma is a cancer of the blood. Plasma cells are overproduced in the body, leading to the growth of tumors in multiple sites. Multiple myeloma accounts for approximately 10% of cancers of the blood. The American Cancer Society estimates that 13,600 individuals in the U.S. will be diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2000 and over 11,000 individuals will die from the disease. Amyloidosis is a complication of multiple myeloma.

Dendreon Corporation (http://www.dendreon.com) is dedicated to the discovery and development of novel products for the treatment of cancer through its innovative manipulation of the immune system. Dendreon is focused on the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines through the use of antigen discovery, antigen engineering and dendritic cell technologies.

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, particularly those inherent in the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics. Factors that may cause such a difference include risks related to Dendreon’s limited operating history, risks associated with completing our clinical trials, dependence on the efforts of third parties, and our dependence on intellectual property. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect Dendreon’s business, financial condition and results of operations, are contained in Dendreon’s SEC Reports, including Dendreon’s Form 10-Q and Form S-1 Registration Statement, which are available at http://www.sec.gov.


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