Jul 16 2010
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation (TSX: TKM), a leader in RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, today announced that it has been awarded a new contract with the United States Department of Defense (DoD) Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP) through the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC), to advance an RNAi therapeutic utilizing Tekmira's lipid nanoparticle technology, SNALP (stable nucleic acid-lipid particle), to treat Ebola virus infection, which is lethal to humans. More than 15% of the estimated value of this award will be subcontracted to U.S. businesses. Tekmira has a U.S. affiliated office based in Washington state, Protiva USA.
In the initial phase of the contract, which is funded as part of the Transformational Medical Technologies (TMT) program, Tekmira is eligible to receive up to U.S. $34.7 million over the next three years. This initial funding is for the development of an Ebola SNALP product candidate through pre-clinical development, filing of an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and completion of a Phase 1 human safety clinical trial.
Additionally, TMT has the option of extending the contract beyond the initial funding period to support the advancement of the Ebola SNALP product through clinical development and FDA approval. Based on the contract budget, this would provide Tekmira with a total of up to U.S. $140 million in funding for the entire program.
Dr. Mark J. Murray, Tekmira's President and CEO, said, "This contract is a significant accomplishment for Tekmira and a proud moment for our team. It is important recognition of the potential of our SNALP platform and, more broadly, the promise of RNAi to treat serious infectious diseases such as Ebola. We are enthusiastic about advancing Ebola SNALP through clinical trials to FDA approval. This work builds on our recently published research, where we reported that Ebola SNALP could confer complete protection to non-human primates from a lethal dose of Ebola virus."
In May, Tekmira working in collaboration with the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), published data in The Lancet (Geisbert et al., "Post exposure protection of non-human primates against a lethal Ebola virus challenge with RNA interference: a proof of concept study", The Lancet, Vol 375, May 29, 2010) describing the antiviral activity of small interfering RNA (siRNA) in SNALP targeting the Ebola virus (Ebola SNALP). When used to treat previously infected non-human primates, Ebola SNALP resulted in 100% protection from an otherwise lethal dose of Zaire Ebola virus.
For many years, the Zaire species of Ebola virus (ZEBOV) has been associated with periodic outbreaks of hemorrhagic fever in human populations with mortality rates reaching 90%. There are currently no treatments for Ebola or other hemorrhagic fever viruses.
Tekmira believes its SNALP technology represents the most widely adopted delivery technology for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics. Tekmira's SNALP platform is being utilized in multiple preclinical and clinical trials by both Tekmira and its partners.
Source: http://www.tekmirapharm.com/