As it advances its therapeutic vaccine for recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP) through clinical trials, Precigen is also working to raise awareness for the rare disease.
The biotech has teamed up with the Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Foundation to block off a day on the disease awareness calendar for the condition. According to this week’s announcement, June 11 will henceforth be known as RRP Awareness Day.
In honor of the inaugural RRP Awareness Day this summer, Precigen will sponsor an event in Washington, D.C., with a dual aim of raising awareness about the disease and helping to build a community between RRP patients and caregivers in attendance, whether virtually or in person. The day’s lineup will include a panel discussion with some of those patients and caregivers, as well as a policy discussion with representatives from the government, while doctors will also have a chance to share insights from their experiences treating RRP.
Precigen and the RRP Foundation have launched a website to drum up awareness of the awareness day, complete with disease facts and patient stories, a registration link and a social media toolkit that attendees can use to get the word out about RRP Awareness Day.
In cases of RRP, which are caused by infection with subtype 6 or 11 of human papillomavirus, wart-like growths form on the tissues lining the respiratory tract and can interfere with their normal function or even begin to block the airway. The RRP Foundation estimates that nearly 20,000 people around the world currently have the disease.
While the introduction of the HPV vaccine has helped to reduce RRP’s incidence rate, there is still no FDA-approved cure for existing cases of the disease, with treatment usually including repeated surgeries to remove the benign tumors growing along the respiratory tract.
Precigen, however, is in the process of testing a therapeutic vaccine for RRP. One of the biotech’s AdenoVerse immunotherapies developed with its gorilla adenovector technology, the treatment currently known as PRGN-2012 has already received breakthrough therapy and orphan drug designations from the FDA.
It’s currently undergoing a phase 1/2 pivotal trial, the results of which will be used in an eventual application for accelerated approval. Early data from the single-arm study announced last year showed that half of the participants had been “surgery-free” for at least a year after treatment with PRGN-2012.
“At Precigen, finding new solutions for patients is why we come to work every day and we are proud of our work to engage the patient community in designing and progressing our RRP clinical trials,” Helen Sabzevari, Ph.D., Precigen’s president and CEO, said in the announcement.
“The RRPF and their robust community have helped us to ensure that the patient voice is integrated into our RRP program and we look forward to working together in the years to come by ‘giving voice to inspire change,’ our theme for our RRP awareness activities and our rally cry until there’s a readily available cure for this devastating disease,” she continued.