Dendreon Will Run on Provenge OK: Poll

Provenge is no ordinary off-the-shelf cancer drug, instead the drug is personalized for each individual prostate cancer patient. This adds a logistical complexity to the manufacture and delivery of Provenge that could cause Dendreon some problems, or at least some sleepless nights, in the first days and weeks of the drug's launch.

And don't expect Wall Street to cut Dendreon much slack on the Provenge launch, not with the company already sporting a $5.4 billion market value. Biotech investors will be carefully scrutinizing Provenge's commercial debut, much the same way tech investors poured over every detail of the iPhone and iPad rollouts by Apple(AAPL).

If FDA decides not to grant full approval to Provenge this week, investors will be clamoring for the reasons why, obsessing over the length of the delay. Glitches in drug manufacturing can be resolved rather quickly, or can linger for months. But predicting the length of any Provenge approval delay will be complicated by the fact that Dendreon is treading virgin territory with a personalized immunotherapy for cancer.

The Dendreon watch on Wall Street starts now.

-- Reported by Adam Feuerstein in Boston.

Follow Adam Feuerstein on Twitter.

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