On Apr. 29, 2010, the FDA approved sipuleucel-T (PROVENGE), made by the Dendreon Corp., an autologous cellular immunotherapy for treatment of asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate-resistant (hormone refractory) prostate cancer. Dendreon Corp. was founded in 1992.

The company filed for Chapter 11 protection in Sept. 2014 after Provenge proved unattractive to doctors and patients. A standard course of treatment cost $93,000, and the results showed only a four-month improvement in median survival rate.

On Feb. 20, 2015, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the assets of Dendreon to Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $495 million. In Jun. 2017, Sanpower Group, a Chinese conglomerate, purchased Dendreon from Valeant for $820 million.