Who We Are
Privo Technologies is a biotechnology company that consists of dedicated scientists, researchers, engineers, and business-people who all have recognized the severe need for an improved standard of care for cancer patients. Our transformational initial products are:
- PRV111: Nanoengineered polymeric patch with embedded cisplatin nanoparticles has the potential to treat more than half of all solid tumor cancers
- PRV211: Sterilized, rapid release intraoperative chemotherapy patch applied post tumor resection
PRV111 is a derivative of the PRV platform, a novel nanotechnology-based system that is capable of improving the efficacy of potent anticancer drugs and significantly improving their safety through locoregional delivery. This approach eliminates needles, avoids stomach acids, significantly reduces toxic side effects of drugs, and allows for higher dosing where the drugs can be most effective – all of which improve patient outcomes and compliance. This platform has broad applications for use in other mucosal cancers, including anal, colorectal, genitourinary, nasal, and skin cancers.
Another derivative, PRV211, is a sterilized, rapid release chemotherapy patch that can be applied intraoperatively post-tumor resection to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. This will be evaluated in combination with PRV111 in the planned Phase 3 tongue cancer study.
PRV111: Why & How
Oral cancer (OC) is an aggressive, invasive tumor with a tendency to spread to the lymph nodes. It is the 6th most common cancer globally and is on the rise due to HPV infection. The current standard of care requires surgery and intravenous (IV) chemotherapy as the first step of treatment. However, both processes are hindered from completion due to the disfiguring side effects of surgery and/or severe toxicity due to the IV chemotherapy.
Despite recent advances in all relevant applied oral cancer therapies, overall survival (OS) has improved only 5% in the last decade. Oral cancer is one of the most expensive cancers with costs exceeding $250,000/patient, due to the debilitating surgical treatment often necessary and associated side effects. Furthermore, of all cancer patients, patients with oral cancer have the highest depression and suicide rates.
PRV111 is a therapeutic patch used on several mucosal and dermal cancers. It has a wide range of uses, from use as a neoadjuvant treatment to debulk tumors prior to surgery to use on high grade dysplasia and carcinoma in situ (Tis) to prevent transition to last stage cancers. PRV111 works to shrink oral cancer tumors before surgery and minimizes the need for disfiguring surgical resection. PRV111 consists of a unique polymeric mesh containing powerful chemotherapy-loaded nanoparticles and works by delivering the nanoparticles directly onto the tumor and regional lymph nodes. PRV111 confines chemotherapeutic agents to the tumor site and has been shown in to eliminate dangers associated with systemic toxicity while shrinking tumors with a response rate of over 70% volume reduction in 87% of subjects.
PRV111 aims to eliminate the need for surgery for early stage oral cancers, to reduce the extent of the disfiguring surgery required in advance cancers, to preserve form and function of the many complex organs of the oral cavity, to minimize high rates of recurrence, and to extend overall survival.
Awards and Recognitions
- Peer reviews have led to $18M of awards in non-dilutive funding
- Awarded a $2M grant form the FDA toward its clinical trials
- One of only 4 companies in the U.S. to receive a $3M NCI phase IIB Award in 2018 to support clinical studies
- Awarded at the White House in 2017 for “outstanding scientific contributions