Governor Announces Dendreon Corporation Signs Lease for Biotech Manufacturing Facility in Union City

ATLANTA—Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced today that Dendreon Corporation, a Seattle-based biotechnology company, will locate a new $70 million manufacturing facility in Union City. The company expects to manufacture PROVENGE® (sipuleucel-T) for patients with advanced prostate cancer. PROVENGE is currently under review by the FDA, and should the product receive approval, the manufacturing plant could generate several hundred new biotechnology jobs in the Atlanta region.

   “Hosting the 2009 BIO International Convention in May introduced biotechnology companies like Dendreon Corporation to Georgia’s business assets,” said Governor Perdue. “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.”

Dendreon plans to locate in a 160,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the Majestic Airport Center in South Fulton County. Pending FDA approval, the company will produce PROVENGE, a new treatment for men with advanced prostate cancer, at the facility. Dendreon plans to launch PROVENGE from its existing facility in Morris Plains, N.J. and ramp up manufacturing capacity at its facilities in Union City and in California. 

“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, M.D., 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.” 

"It is exciting news for Atlanta that Dendreon is locating its manufacturing facility here as it will help to attract other cancer research and production facilities to Georgia," said Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society.

“We are pleased to welcome Dendreon to Union City, and we have done a lot to prepare our community for economic development,” said Union City Mayor Ralph Moore. “Union City is poised, with its Opportunity Zone and strategic location on Interstate 85, to be a key player in the Southeast as well as the United States. “

“Dendreon is the type of innovative company that is increasingly finding a home in Fulton County,” said Fulton County Commission Chair John Eaves. “In today’s knowledge-based economy, it’s important to cultivate high-paying jobs for our citizens and we have the perfect environment for growth in South Fulton.”

Carol Henderson and Annie Marie Baxter, project managers with the Georgia Department of Economic Development, assisted the company in its location.

About the company

Dendreon Corporation is a biotechnology company whose mission is to target cancer and transform lives through the discovery, development and commercialization 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. Dendreon is also developing an orally-available small molecule that targets TRPM8 that could be applicable to multiple types of cancer as well as benign prostatic hyperplasia. The Company has its headquarters 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.

For more information, contact Katherine Stueland
WeissComm Partners
(415) 946-1082

About Georgia’s Bioscience Industry

With strong talent, a spirit of collaboration and access to the world, Georgia is at the crossroads of global health.  Georgia is home to the CDC, CARE, the American Cancer Society, the Arthritis Foundation and more than 300 bioscience companies. The state offers robust public-private partnerships in bioscience, including the Georgia Research Alliance, through which the State’s six research universities collaborate to create, improve and grow science- and technology-based companies.  Additionally, Georgia boasts a strong talent pool, with the nation’s highest growth in market share of college-educated 25-to-34 year-olds and one of the largest state university systems in the country, graduating 44,000 students each year.  Georgia is the first state in the U.S. Southeast to hold the BIO International Convention, which attracted more than 14,000 participants from 58 countries in May 2009. For more information on Georgia’s bioscience industry, visit www.georgiabiosciences.com.

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