Provectus CFO Says “Light of Day” Cancer Cure is Realized in PV-10

Inspiration for safer cancer treatments came after young daughter’s cancer scare

By Randy Lieberman

Certain events in life can catapult a person into a life-long pursuit of a solution.

It was almost a decade ago when medical trauma changed the life of Peter Culpepper, Chief Financial Officer at Provectus Pharmaceuticals, and propelled him towards a goal he continues to pursue to this day: Find a cure for cancer.

Recent announcements from Provectus have brought excitement to the pharmaceutical world, with advancements in PV-10 testing giving a new hope to cancer patients. Provectus is currently completing its Phase 2 clinical trial of PV-10 as a therapy for metastatic melanoma and has completed Phase 1 clinical testing of PV-10 for the treatment of recurrent breast carcinoma.

“People need to realize that this hope for cancer patients is here and the more people know about it, the more they can do to help,” says Culpepper.

But this hope didn’t exist in 1999, when Culpepper’s life changed in an instant.

It was February, and Culpepper, who earned his MBA from the University of Maryland at College Park, was the Senior Director for Metromedia Affiliated Corporations. He and his five-year-old daughter, Victoria, were enjoying a swim at the public pool near their home in Stamford, Conn. when she began to shake uncontrollably.

She was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found she had a brain tumor.

In only took a matter of days, surgeons removed the nearly tennis-ball sized tumor. Following the surgery were three months of chemotherapy and another three months of radiation.

“When you’re first hit with it, it’s like somebody slaps you in the face or takes the knees from out from under you,” Culpepper said, “It’s such a personal blow and it’s even worse because it’s your own child. When that happens, all of a sudden you’re thrust into this whole different world, this health care world, and it really woke up my eyes to how really challenging cancer is.”

Though Victoria was ultimately rid of the cancer, Culpepper’s brush with the disease left him fearful of a relapse. Although he was pursuing a high-paying position elsewhere, he felt there was a void, and became active with the Make-a-Wish Foundation and the American Cancer Society.

But something just wasn’t right.

“What I liked about the Make-a-Wish foundation is that they were able to make outreach to people like me they help people deal with the problem,” Culpepper said. “But I wanted to be a part of an organization or a group of people that would try to deal with the problem or solve the problem. It’s a war, there’s so many other types of cancer.”

That’s when he heard of a chief financial officer job opening at Provectus Pharmaceuticals, which at the time was beginning to develop a cancer drug with the potential to attack tumors without the aid of chemotherapy or radiation treatment. The job paid half of what he was earning, but Culpepper didn’t hesitate.

“To me, we’re not driven by the cash, it’s good, but that alone doesn’t cut it,” Culpepper said, “You have to have something else to make a true advancement.”

In February 2004, he became Provectus’ fourth employee, with an equity stake.

Peter Culpepper, CFO of Provectus

Culpepper’s greatest chance at finding a cure may be upon us quicker than most thought.

The compassionate-use program, which is in development as a therapeutic drug for a broad spectrum of cancers, was recently made available for select cancer patients.

“PV-10 as a treatment is very unique,” Culpepper said. “One, it stands alone, it doesn’t use other chemotherapy agents; Two, it’s extremely safe, which is very unusual for cancer drugs; And three, it triggers the immune system so the immune system goes out and kills the cancer directly.”

Those three things, the safety, efficacy and the immediate response, have never been seen in one drug before, Culpepper said. It also isn’t limited to one type of tumor; it is effective on nine major cell tumors, according to Culpepper, which include melanoma, breast cancer, liver cancer and pancreatic cancer.

“Pharmaceutical research has shown that it’s very rare to get a compound and have it go through to get processed,” Culpepper said, “They say one out of 15,000, or there are some huge odds, plus it’s terrifically expensive.”

But the persistence of the company has led to the breakthrough.

“It just shows how tough cancer is,” Culpepper said. “Cancer is very challenging.”

The development-stage oncology and dermatology bio-pharmaceutical company, Provectus will initially make the compassionate use program available for cancer indications that do not involve visceral organs and are not subject to enrollment in ongoing clinical trials. These indications include certain breast cancers, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, certain head and neck cancers and melanoma.

PV-10 is a form of Rose Bengal that is injected directly into a tumor, and according to Dr. Agarwala, Principal Investigator for Provectus’ Phase 2 PV-10 trial site at St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network in Bethlehem, PA, has shown a 60 percent efficacy rate with little, or no side effects.

Provectus has begun its compassionate program for PV-10 in certain Australian “Centers of Excellence,” including Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, and will expand it to the United States in coming months. The Australian program is under the guidelines of the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s Special Access Scheme.

“People are going to be very interested in how far PV-10 develops and how good it is,” Culpepper said, “It could be the first true breakthrough cancer treatment where everyone wants a stand-alone agent that treats multiple cancer patients.”

As for the now 16-year old Victoria, Culpepper’s daughter, she has been cancer free since the treatment. “The doctors say the longer the time goes by, the better off the chance are that it won’t come back,” Culpepper said. “But right around now we’re on pins and needles because every year around this time we go through the MRI’s just to make sure it’s not re-growing in her brain.”

The most important thing for Culpepper now is making the world aware of the breakthrough drug that Provectus hangs its hat on.

“We want the world to know about PV-10 because it needs to have the light of day,” Culpepper says.