Dendreon Corporation has signed a lease agreement with Majestic Realty Co to build a 160,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Union City, Georgia, where it expects to manufacture Provenge (sipuleucel-T) for patients with advanced prostate cancer. The state of Georgia will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 30.

If approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Dendreon would launch Provenge from its existing facility in Morris Plains, New Jersey and would then ramp up additional manufacturing capacity of Provenge at its other facilities under development in Union City and Seal Beach, California once they are completed. The Company expects to disclose more details relating to its manufacturing facilities at an upcoming analyst day in New York City.

"We are pleased to announce that we are expanding our manufacturing capacity with the addition of two new facilities in Atlanta and Los Angeles," said Mitchell H Gold, president and chief executive officer of Dendreon. "We have particularly enjoyed partnering with the state of Georgia, Fulton County officials and the local community during this process and are grateful for their partnership and support as we prepare to commercialize Provenge to help the many patients with advanced prostate cancer who currently have few appealing treatment options."

"Hosting the 2009 BIO International Convention in May introduced biotechnology companies like Dendreon to Georgia's business assets," said Sonny Perdue, governor of the State of Georgia. "Our state's world-class healthcare institutions and hospitals enable companies like Dendreon to conduct clinical research and engage in product development while benefiting from the vast scientific resources that Georgia has to offer."

Provenge is Dendreon's investigational product candidate for men with advanced prostate cancer and may represent the first in a new class of active cellular immunotherapies (ACIs) specifically designed to engage the patient's own immune system against cancer.

Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company whose mission is to target cancer and transform lives through the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics.