Prostate-cancer drug maker, Dendreon Corp files for bankruptcy protection

Prostate-cancer drug maker, Dendreon Corp, filed for bankruptcy protection, in a move that could end up wiping out shareholders in a company that pioneered the use of patients' immune systems to fight tumours, Bloomberg reported.

The Seattle-based company, which makes Provenge, in an agreement called for a recapitalisation of Dendreon, or a sale of the company or its assets, according to the statement of the company.

The company and its US subsidiaries filed Chapter 11 petitions in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

The drug approved in 2010 came as the first product in the so-called immunotherapy.

It was designed to treat patients with advanced-stage prostate cancer, the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the US.

The drug failed to live up to expectations as it was cumbersome to administer and cost $93,000.

The treatment involved taking white blood cell extracts from patients, mixing them with vaccine components and delivering the combination as an infusion.

According to the company, it planned to continue operations during the restructuring and would provide Provenge to patients. The company has a workforce of 700 in Seattle and Bridgewater, New Jersey, after cutting about 750 full-time and contractor jobs in 2012 and 2013 and sold a New Jersey plant.

According to the company, note-holders representing about 84 per cent of the debt had agreed to let it pursue a stand-alone recapitalisation or a sale of the company or its assets in 11 Chapter, The Seattle Times reported.

Industry watchers had expected a transaction that would leave common stockholders with little value for their shares since August, when the company acknowledged for the first time the significant risk that it could not pay the debt.

The convertible debt notes had been issued when the company stock traded at over $50 a share. The stock last week, was below $1, which meant there was no chance that noteholders would want to turn their debt into equity at the originally specified price.

''''We are confident that this process will allow Provenge to remain commercially available to the patients and providers who have come to rely on this revolutionary personalized cancer immunotherapy,'' said Dendreon president and CEO Thomas Amick.

''We are pleased to have the support of a substantial majority of our Senior Noteholders through this restructuring and sale process. We thank our employees for their continued hard work and dedication and for their commitment to help deliver Provenge to patients who are in need of immunotherapy.''