Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Tumbleweeds galore in dusty Dendreonville

Dendreon announced its conference call date (Aug. 7) and the stock plummeted 3.2 percent to $7.55.

Just another day in dysfunctional Dendreonville, a tiny Wild West town that has been ambushed by renegade wildcatters and abusive federal officials alike. It's tough to find a single soul who expects much transparency from Sheriff Mitchell Gold come August 7. Not a single soul in the town anticipates mercy from those same feds who ransacked the town in May, but Sheriff Gold plans to go back to the well, dry as it is, for another try.

For the patient, maybe life in Dendreonville will pan out beautifully. For the patients, time is slipping away. Even as hardy citizens like Arnie Mass speak up and gather the populace in united spirit against tyranny, there remains no commitment from federal types to round up the causers of chaos in this place. They have little interest in finding progressive means to extend the lives of prostate cancer patients.

With empty homes and abandoned businesses aplenty, the place resembles a ghost town sometimes. Drought and departure have left Dendreonville just a shell of its brief stature as a robust, growing, booming hub in a desert. Few dare to venture into the realm of biotechs, especially the Death Valley known as immunotherapy. Distant news reporters come and go, though only one, Mike Huckman, has stepped through the mid-day heat of the region and dug for the truth.

Help, however, is generally a mirage for Dendreonites. Though word of faraway angels looms, only the hardy remain, peering out their windows from time to time, hoping that the sound of rattling wagons and horseshoes bring a savior.

Alas, their eyes have grown used to tumbleweeds, dust and disappointment.

Disclaimer: Pupule Paul is long DNDN, short on patience.

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