SEAL BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Dendreon Pharmaceuticals LLC, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company and pioneer in the development of immunotherapy treatments that are changing cancer care, today announced several key leadership appointments to further the company’s continued growth and expansion. Reestablished as an independent company after a remarkable turnaround, Dendreon has grown significantly – adding more than 60 new employees across its three U.S. locations.

“Dendreon’s return to profitability was an incredible achievement driven by two years of double-digit sales growth of PROVENGE, a groundbreaking immunotherapy for men with advanced prostate cancer,” said James Caggiano, chief executive officer of Dendreon. “This new team of seasoned and dynamic leaders will build on that momentum by advancing our strategy of partnering with urologists to increase access to PROVENGE, and help us realize our full potential as a company.”

Chris Carr has joined as chief financial officer; Matt Kemp has been promoted to chief commercial officer; Christina Yi has been promoted to chief operations officer; Kevin Helmbacher joins as general counsel, senior vice president of legal and compliance; and Beth S. Mueller has joined as senior vice president, human resources.

Chris Carr, Chief Financial Officer, brings to Dendreon over 25 years of financial experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Chris is responsible for simplifying and optimizing the company’s finance, audit, treasury and information systems. Prior to Dendreon, he spent more than 13 years in the Vision Medical Device group at Abbott Laboratories and more than 10 years at Genzyme Corporation, which included a role as divisional controller for the publicly traded oncology business.

Matt Kemp, Chief Commercial Officer, has nearly 20 years of commercial leadership experience across marketing and commercial operations in the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries. Responsible for all aspects of sales and marketing, Matt rejoined Dendreon in 2015 after leading global marketing and market development in biologics for Zimmer Biomet. He previously served as senior director, global strategic marketing, plastic surgery, for Allergan and held positions in marketing at Takeda, Abbott and TAP Pharmaceuticals.

Christina Yi, Chief Operations Officer, has worked at Dendreon for the last eight years. She has 20 years of experience across various aspects of pharmaceutical operations. Christina is responsible for manufacturing, quality, sourcing and procurement, technical operations, apheresis operations and project management. Prior to Dendreon, she held positions at Amgen, Xenogen Corporation and Targeted Genetics Corporation. She began her career in the virology laboratory at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Kevin Helmbacher, General Counsel, Senior Vice President, Legal and Compliance, has rejoined Dendreon with 23 years of legal and compliance experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. In this role, Kevin is responsible for the management and oversight of the corporate legal and compliance functions. During his prior time at Dendreon, he was vice president, deputy general counsel and head of intellectual property. Over the course of his career, he has held senior legal positions at Pfizer, Medivation, Corvas International, Inc. and Molecular Biosystems, Inc.

Beth S. Mueller, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, has joined Dendreon with over 20 years of experience in human resources, organizational development and talent acquisition in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Beth is responsible for creating the HR function, building a best-in-class HR team, and developing and implementing the team’s strategic vision. Prior to Dendreon, she was executive director human resources, head of function, at Avanir Pharmaceuticals. She also has held HR positions at Allergan and Takeda Pharmaceuticals and provided professional HR services to clients through her own boutique HR consulting firm.

About Dendreon

Dendreon is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company and pioneer in the development of immunotherapies that are changing the future of cancer treatment. Dendreon’s flagship product, PROVENGE (sipuleucel-T) was the first FDA-approved immunotherapy made from a patient’s own immune cells. PROVENGE has successfully treated more than 20,000 men with advanced prostate cancer in the U.S. since 2010. Dendreon also is evaluating the use of PROVENGE in early-stage prostate cancer, with the hope of curing more men of the disease. Dendreon is headquartered in Seal Beach, Calif. For more information, please visit http://www.dendreon.com.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Acute Infusion Reactions: Acute infusion reactions (reported within 1 day of infusion) may occur and include nausea, vomiting, fatigue, fever, rigor or chills, respiratory events (dyspnea, hypoxia, and bronchospasm), syncope, hypotension, hypertension, and tachycardia.

Thromboembolic Events: Thromboembolic events, including deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, can occur following infusion of PROVENGE. The clinical significance and causal relationship are uncertain. Most patients had multiple risk factors for these events. PROVENGE should be used with caution in patients with risk factors for thromboembolic events.

Vascular Disorders: Cerebrovascular events (hemorrhagic/ischemic strokes and transient ischemic attacks) and cardiovascular disorders (myocardial infarctions) have been reported following infusion of PROVENGE. The clinical significance and causal relationship are uncertain. Most patients had multiple risk factors for these events.

Handling Precautions: PROVENGE is not tested for transmissible infectious diseases.

Concomitant Chemotherapy or Immunosuppressive Therapy: Chemotherapy or immunosuppressive agents (such as systemic corticosteroids) given concurrently with the leukapheresis procedure or PROVENGE has not been studied. Concurrent use of immune-suppressive agents may alter the efficacy and/or safety of PROVENGE.

Adverse Reactions: The most common adverse reactions reported in clinical trials (≥ 15% of patients receiving PROVENGE) were chills, fatigue, fever, back pain, nausea, joint ache, and headache.

For full Prescribing Information, please visit http://www.dendreon.com/Products.

 

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