Galena Biopharma Inc (GALE): Improving Cancer Vaccines for the Future

Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN)‘s Provenge

There is another biotech company that uses vaccines to treat cancer. This other company is known as Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN), which was the first immunotherapy vaccine to be approved by the FDA. The FDA approved Dendreon Corporation (NASDAQ:DNDN)‘s vaccine Provenge on April 29, 2010. The reason for the huge buzz back then was that the vaccine was able to extend a prostate cancer patients’ life by 4 months.

Dendreon since then has been struggling to sell provenge, mainly due to the high cost of treatment. The company’s quarterly revenue fell to $85.5 million this quarter, compared to $202.1 million the same quarter last year. Still it is crucial for vaccine companies to advance into later stage trials, and combat cancer which has been difficult to treat. Vaccine treatments would be better for prostate cancer patients, than having to go through toxic chemotherapy causing all sorts of other problems.

Final Thought

I feel that Galena Biopharma Inc (NASDAQ:GALE) is taking what it has learned from previous cancer vaccine failures, and using Neuvax to generate good results. Gale currently trades at around $2.81 per share, but if phase 3 goes well the stock could see a huge boost into the double digits. Neuvax could be a game changer in the field of vaccines fighting cancer. Its first target indication is targeting breast cancer, which has a market opportunity seen to be in the billions.

The company doesn’t just stop on breast cancer alone. It is also in early stage testing of Prostate cancer like Dendreon. The downside is that Gale’s prostate cancer vaccine is only in phase 1, and it has many years before it will even get to market. Another trial they are working on is on Endometrial, and Ovarian cancer. If you have a spot in your portfolio for a speculative biotech stock Gale would be a wise choice for those investors who are seeking long term profit.

The article Galena: Improving Cancer Vaccines for the Future originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Terry Chrisomalis.

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