Dendreon has announced that CEO John Johnson will leave the company in August next year.
The decision comes as Dendreon continues to struggle as its only product Provenge – a ‘vaccine’ for prostate cancer ‘ – fails to live up to high expectations.
According to the company’s financial report, sales of Provenge declined from $325m in 2012 to $286m in 2013. This led to Dendreon dropping out the top 25 companies working in oncology.
These poor sales meant the company reported operating losses of around $300m and major job cuts.
On leaving, Johnston said: “I first joined Dendreon because of my admiration for the company as a pioneer in immunotherapy and because of my belief in the power of Provenge as a personalised cancer treatment. That belief still holds true today.”