Dendreon, Vion and Allos: Biotech Mailbag

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Welcome back to the Biotech Stock Mailbag. Let's get the joint jumping with an email from Reidar A.

"I am wondering how a company with a market cap under $20 million and a scheduled [FDA advisory committee] meeting in three weeks can avoid mention in any news media and blogs? Talking of course about Vion Pharmaceuticals(VION.OB Quote). They do have as good a shot of getting this approval as any bigger company, yet the media seems to have forgotten their existence. I have done my due diligence on the drug and the company...

"The data speaks for itself. It's an orphan patient group and data from 140 people are used, endpoints were met, giving them a genuine shot at approval. The drug is universal in its action, the company has selected an orphan population just to get it out. As a stock, having a float under 8 million shares and trading under $3, this could be the stock of the year if they get the approval."

I wrote about Vion in October 2007 and then updated in March 2008. My outlook for the company's blood cancer drug cloretazine (now known as Onrigin) was rather bleak.

Here's what I said in March 2008, when Vion shares traded around $1.80:

"Vion's lead drug, cloretazine, is being developed for some blood cancers. The lead indication seeks to treat elderly, high-risk patients with acute myelogenous leukemia, or AML. Vion intends to seek FDA approval for cloretazine later this year.