Provenance Biopharmaceuticals Corp. is a biotechnology company formed to create novel immune therapeutics to treat cancers and other diseases. Provenance is a leader in immunocytokine technology, a class of drugs designed to treat cancer by harnessing both the innate and adaptive immune system to eradicate tumor cells and permanently guard against their recurrence Provenance was founded in 2008 to continue the development of “immunocytokines” an antibody-cytokine fusion technology pioneered by Provenance founder, Dr. Stephen Gillies in the early 1990s.

 

The company’s lead molecule, DI-Leu16-IL2, is a second-generation immunocytokine being tested in human clinical trials for treatment CD20-positive hematological cancers.

 

In addition to this clinical development phase project, immunocytokines targeting other forms of cancer are being created using a newly designed immunocytokine format. These new molecules utilize a different way of fusing cytokines to antibodies that changes their circulation time, their ability to be taken up after subcutaneous injection, and the way different immune cells in the body bind to and are activated by them. They also utilize other antibody targeting regions that direct them to different cancer surface antigens on different cancer types. The Company believes these changes will make these drugs more effective, while being more convenient and better tolerated by the patient. These pre-clinical projects are being supported by academic partners and private funding, as well as grants from cancer foundations.