NuvOx and Dr. Pavani Chalasani Announce acceptance of abstracts in Triple Negative Breast Cancer at 2 prestigious conventions - “Novel Oxygen Therapeutic Shows Promise in Boosting Immunotherapy”

Tucson, AZ – November 24, 2025  – Today NuvOx Therapeutics, Inc. (“NuvOx”) along with Dr. Pavani Chalasani of George Washington University announced the acceptance of abstracts in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) at 2 prestigious conventions, titled “Novel Oxygen Therapeutic Shows Promise in Boosting Immunotherapy Response in Triple Negative Breast Cancer”.

Researchers at George Washington (GW) University Cancer Center, in collaboration with NuvOx, have demonstrated that NanO₂^TM, a perfluorocarbon-based oxygen therapeutic, can reverse tumor hypoxia and enhance the effectiveness of both immunotherapy and chemotherapy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) — one of the most aggressive and treatment-resistant cancer types. The work has been fully funded by the United States Department of Defense.

The findings, to be presented at the 2025 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting and submitted to the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS) reveal that NanO₂ improves tumor oxygenation, reduces PD-1 expression, and increases infiltration of CD8⁺ T cells — key drivers of immune-mediated tumor destruction. The studies also found that combining NanO₂ with oxygen exposure, immunotherapy, or chemotherapy further enhanced these immune and anti-tumor effects.

“By reversing tumor hypoxia, NanO₂ effectively reprograms the tumor microenvironment to be more responsive to therapy,” said Dr. Pavani Chalasani, Principal Investigator at GW Cancer Center. “This could represent a new way to make resistant cancers more vulnerable to treatment.”

NanO₂, composed of 2% w/v dodecafluoropentane, has previously been tried as radiosensitizer in two trials in patients with glioblastoma. These new preclinical findings expand its potential application to breast cancer and other solid tumors, where hypoxia limits treatment efficacy.

“Hypoxia is a major barrier  for effective cancer therapy,” said Dr. Evan Unger, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of NuvOx. “Our data suggest NanO₂ could become an adjunct to currently available chemotherapy and immunotherapy agents, improve their efficacy and have an impact on cancer related outcomes rapidly.”

Dr. Jennifer Johnson, Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer at, added: “These results strengthen the biological rationale for targeting tumor oxygenation as a therapeutic strategy. NanO₂’s unique ability to rapidly deliver oxygen to hypoxic tissues positions it as a potential game-changer — not just for triple-negative breast cancer, but for a broad range of solid tumors that are currently resistant to standard treatments. We feel fortunate that we have been able to collaborate with Dr. Chalasani. She has great expertise and is very well known in the field of breast cancer.”

Further animal studies and IND-enabling steps are underway to advance NanO₂ toward clinical testing in breast cancer patients.

For more, visit Innovative Oxygen Therapeutics | NuvOx Pharma | Arizona.

About NuvOx:

NuvOx is a privately held clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel platform of oxygen therapeutics for the treatment of diseases where hypoxia plays a role. Hypoxia, or low oxygen, is responsible for resistance to cancer treatment, brain damage in stroke, and the death of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

The Company’s drug candidate - NanO₂ represents a potentially disruptive platform technology addressing multiple unmet needs, with positive results demonstrated in two completed Phase Ib/II studies: one in glioblastoma as a radiosensitizer and the other in stroke as a neuroprotectant. It was shown to be the most promising oxygen therapeutic among 74 clinical-stage compounds in a literature review. It has safety and efficacy data in 7+ indications in various preclinical and clinical stages, including Orphan Drug Designation for both glioblastoma and sickle cell anemia.

The product can refer to safety data in ~2,000 subjects. The product is designed to be synergistic, rather than competitive with standard of care. The company also has a strong IP portfolio: 11 patent families, 11 issued US patents and 31 foreign equivalents.

NuvOx is conducting a Phase IIb clinical trial as a radiosensitizer in treatment of glioblastoma, has started a Phase IIb clinical trial for NanO₂ in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, funded by the UK government, and is conducting a Phase Ib clinical trial for NanO₂ in the treatment of respiratory distress.

About GW University Cancer Center:

The GW University Cancer Center integrates clinical care, research, and education to advance prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. The center’s researchers are at the forefront of translational studies that bring laboratory discoveries to patient care.

DOD Disclaimer: 

Research reported in this press release is supported by the Department of Defense (DOD) Breast Cancer Research Program under Award Number W81XWH-22-1-0640. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.

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Forward-looking statement

This communication contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws.  Such statements are based upon various facts and derived utilizing numerous important assumptions and are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Statements preceded by, followed by or that otherwise include the words "believes," "expects," "antici-pates," "intends," "projects," "estimates," "plans" and similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "should," "would," "may" and "could" are generally forward-looking in nature and not historical facts, although not all forward-looking statements include the foregoing.  The forward-looking statements include statements regarding our first-in-class product being able to help ARDS patients; the potential of NanO₂ to restore blood oxygen levels, decrease lung inflammation, and improve survival; the EXTEND Trial paving the way for NanO₂ as treatment for ARDS; and NanO₂ representing a potentially disruptive platform technology addressing multiple unmet needs,  NanO₂ being synergistic with standard of care and plans to start a Phase IIb clinical trial for NanO₂ in treatment of acute ischemic stroke and a Phase Ib clinical trial for NanO₂ in treatment of respiratory distress. Any forward-looking statements included herein reflect our current views, and they involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, among others, our ability to pursue our regulatory strategy, our ability to obtain regulatory approvals for commercialization of product candidates or to comply with ongoing regulatory requirements, our ability to develop strategic partnership opportunities and maintain collaborations, our ability to obtain or maintain the capital or grants necessary to fund our research and development activities, our ability to complete clinical trials on time and achieve desired results and benefits as expected, regulatory limitations relating to our ability to promote or commercialize our product candidates for specific indications, acceptance of our product candidates in the marketplace and the successful development, marketing or sale of our products, our ability to maintain our license agreements, the continued maintenance and growth of our patent estate and our ability to retain our key employees. These risks should not be construed as exhaustive. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it was initially made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, unless required by law.