Dendreon's Secret "Lover"--With A Strong Ticker

The small biotech company Dendreonput out a press release this morningannouncing that an unidentified institutional investor is going to buy eight million shares and warrants to buy as much as another eight million for a total infusion of $47 million.

DNDN says it will use the money to "fund our commercialization activities for Provenge," among other things. Provenge is a therapeutic vaccine for prostate cancer that is in the middle of a crucial clinical trial.

Back in February I blogged aboutMorgan Stanley and a hedge fund, Visium Asset Management, taking a combined 16.5 percent stake in DNDN. Big investors like that have 45 days to disclose their positions to the Securities and Exchange Commission, so the identity of Dendreon's secret lover could be revealed in the not-too-distant future.

Dendreon can be a very volatile stock. It has a huge short interest or shares that belong to investors who are hoping the price will fall. This is not an investment for the faint of heart. But obviously another one of the "big boys" has a strong ticker.

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