Since the approval of Provenge in April of 2010 the pipeline of new potential immunotherapy drugs has swelled. For excellent reasons, many of us are very optimistic about the future.

As I reported in April of 2010, Dendreon Inc. received FDA approval for its vaccine, Provenge®.  The news for the future is even brighter.

In addition to Provenge, there has been significant developments of new candidate vaccines and therapeutic antibodies designed to target prostate cancer. There are currently 30 different candidates in the pipeline , 16 prostate cancer vaccines and 14 prostate cancer-targeting antibodies. Of these candidates, 19 are at Phases II and III (nine vaccines and 10 antibodies) and eight are at Phase I.

These investigational vaccines and antibodies are targeting more than fifteen different prostate cancer-associated antigens or other prostate cancer-associated proteins. There are 25 companies: 20 small and medium sized enterprises and five multinational pharmaceutical companies currently involved in this research.

The potential is clear, we are in an excellent position to see new immunotherapy in the not too far out future.

Joel T Nowak, M.A., M.S.W.