THE PEPTINOVO SOLUTION

We use cardiovascular innovation to carry drugs and treat cancer.

PNB-281 is a novel, ultra-small nanoparticle loaded with a fatty derivative of the world-leading cancer drug paclitaxel to enable greater efficacy without neuropathy. Over 70% of the patients treated with the approved paclitaxel formulations, Taxol® or Abraxane®, experience paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy (PIPN). In some, the symptoms are severe and require dose cutbacks or premature end of dosing, which risk treatment failure.

To make matters worse, the pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness of PIPN in the extremities typically persist well after treatment has ended, often for months and even years, further degrading quality of life and safety.  

PNB-281 is designed to keep paclitaxel away from nerves, and instead deliver it to the tumors it is intended to kill. This is accomplished by chemically linking paclitaxel to a fat and embedding it in a peptide-amphiphile lipid micelle (PALM) that is captured by a receptor found to be abundant in cancer cells but not in nerves. 

PALM is a mimic of high-density lipoprotein, a natural carrier of fats in the blood. Cancer cells depend on HDL to deliver the fats needed to support cell growth. PALM essentially acts as a Trojan horse, delivering toxic drugs in place of fats. Any of a variety of common chemotherapy drugs can be adapted to the PALM platform for greater safety and efficacy.

The PALM technology is most advanced for paclitaxel, a principal chemotherapy drug in many cancer therapies.