Dendreon
Unfortunately, it's all for naught -- at least for the immediate future. As much as doctors would like to prescribe Provenge for their patients, manufacturing limitations will keep demand outpacing supply for awhile.
I don't know of any other drug with blockbuster potential that has such manufacturing issues. Sales of some of Genzyme's
You see, unlike traditional drugs such as Pfizer's
In fact, manufacturing will be fairly limited for the next year or so. For now, the company only has one manufacturing plant, which can only handle about 2,000 patients in the coming year as it works at 25% capacity. Dendreon is building out capacity at that plant and constructing two more, but the additional sites won't be approved by the FDA until the middle of next year.
Until then, presentations at medical meetings won't have much, if any, effect on sales for Provenge. Disrupting the status quo will take time; at least Dendreon can save money on promotional swag in the meantime.