First Therapy for Rare Tumor Is a Blockbuster Prospect, But Does Precigen Have the Cash to Make It Happen?

Tumors caused by recurrent respiratory papillomatosis are benign, but that doesn’t mean they are not serious. In this rare disease, growths form in the respiratory tract that restrict a patient’s ability to breathe and speak. The FDA recently approved a Precigen drug that addresses the root cause of RRP, making the immunotherapy the first drug treatment for the disorder.

First-mover advantage for Precigen’s therapy, known in development as PRGN-2012 and branded as Papzimeos, brings blockbuster sales expectations. But regulatory approval is just one hurdle. In the past year, Germantown, Maryland-based Precigen has been performing a balancing act with its pipeline and its finances in order to support Papzimeos, now its first commercialized product. The balancing is not over, as the compan