In the great state of Tennessee, there is a company that is on the cutting edge of cancer research and has taken their technology worldwide in an attempt to help cure the disease. The company is Provectus Pharmaceuticals and if they achieve continued success, they may soon be a well known name.
Provectus Pharmaceuticals is a development-stage oncology and dermatology biopharmaceutical company which uses the agent PV-10 as a therapeutic agent for a broad spectrum of cancers. Currently, PV-10 is available for select cancer patients in the U.S. but the program was initiated in Australia in June of 2009 and has excelled across the globe.
In the U.S., the PV-10 program commenced at St. Luke’s Hospital and Health Network in Bethlehem, PA under the watchful eye of the renowned Dr. Sanjiv Agarwaia who served as the Principal Investigator at that site for the Phase 2 Melanoma Trial. The U.S. trials are similar to those currently in place in Australia in that the PV-10 will only be available at this point for cancer indication that do not involve visceral organs and are not subject to enrollment in ongoing clinical trial.
At this point the compassionate use program includes testing on certain breast cancers, basal cell carcinoma, certain head and neck cancers and melanoma. The compassionate use program of PV-10 is described in depth on the company’s website at www.pvct.com.
Leading the team at Provectus Pharmaceuticals is Craig Dees who is a Ph.D and serves as the CEO. In Dees, Provectus has a leader who has spent more than 20 years in senior management positions at Photogen Technologies, Inc.; the Oak Ridge National Laboratory; LipoGen, Inc.; and TechAmerica, Inc. Dees was a founder, senior scientist and founding director of Photogen before Provectus was formed. His responsibilities have included product design and development in the fields of ethical vaccines, cosmetics, human diagnostics and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals. His development record includes the first live viral vaccine produced by recombinant DNA technologies and the first recombinant antigen human diagnostic assay.
Dees was quoted as saying, “We have received many requests from physicians to make PV-10 available to their patients on a compassionate use basis. Considering the encouraging interim results we have received from Phase 2 testing of PV-10, enabling patients’ access to the drug via a compassionate use program is absolutely the right thing to do. We believe that PV-10 has the potential to be effective for several indications, and are pleased to be able to offer it in the United States and Australia through this program. In the meantime, our developmental efforts continue for PV-10, and we look forward to continued progress.”
Currently, Provectus is trading in the $0.92 range and has continually produced positive news. With the compassionate use program for their PV-10 in place for U.S. cancer patients and already having achieved success in Australia, Provectus may just be the over-the-counter gem that investors dream of capitalizing upon. If the PV-10 continues to make progress and helps further the cause against cancer, Provectus will be recognized by institutional investors.
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