Northwest Biotherapeutics responded to investor concerns about Dendreon’s Provenge immune therapy, stating that NWBT’s DCVax immune therapies for cancer hold promise based on available data of being priced below other immune therapies while still providing profit margins for the company and longer survival for patients.
The investor concerns in the news relating to the pricing and reimbursement of Provenge for late stage, metastatic prostate cancer. Provenge is priced at $93,000 for one month of treatment and was approved by the FDA based upon having added 4.5 months of patient survival (to reach overall survival of 25.9 months).
NWBT’s DCVax will be priced in the range of $37,000 per year for up to 3 years of treatments. In NWBT’s Phase 1/2 multi-center clinical trial in late stage, metastatic prostate cancer, DCVax added 18 months of patient survival (to reach overall survival of 38.7 months).
DCVax has previously been cleared by the FDA for a 612-patient, randomized, controlled Phase 3 trial, although the trial has not yet begun.
“It is really important that pricing and reimbursement concerns associated with certain immune therapies, such as Provenge, not cause a disillusionment with all of the emerging immune therapies for cancer. Some of these, such as DCVax, while at an earlier stage of development, continue to progress and offer the potential for real cost-effectiveness, easier administration to patients, and longer extensions of patients’ survival, as well as an absence of toxicity,” says Linda Powers, chairman of the NWBT Board and chief executive officer.
Release Date: Aug. 10, 2011
Source: Northwest Biotherapeutics
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
