Privo Technologies Inc, a US-based, late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company, announced on Thursday that the first patient has been dosed in its first-in-human clinical trial assessing PRV131, a nanoengineered intratumoural cisplatin injectable for the treatment of T1–T3 oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

The Phase 1/2 Dose Escalation and Dose Optimisation Run-In Study (Arm three of CLN-004) is designed to refine dosing by assessing safety, preliminary efficacy, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of PRV131 across selected dose levels as a neoadjuvant therapy.

With the intention of debulking tumours prior to surgery, PRV131 aims to improve surgical outcomes, preserve oral tissue, and reduce the morbidity associated with traditional surgical approaches.

The trial is now being conducted at the first clinical site, where the inaugural patient received treatment with PRV131, which Privo says marks a key milestone in the development of novel locoregional therapies for head and neck cancer.