Feb 5 2013
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a leading developer of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, announced today that it has been selected as an oral presenter at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) taking place in Washington, DC from April 6-10, 2013.
"We are pleased that we have this opportunity to present Phase 1 clinical trial data from our lead oncology program, TKM-PLK1, at the AACR conference. We have completed the dose escalation portion of the trial and are continuing to enroll patients in an expansion cohort at the maximum tolerated dose. Our TKM-PLK1 program will enter a Phase 2 trial later in 2013," said Dr. Mark J. Murray, Tekmira's President and CEO.
The study investigators will deliver a presentation entitled "A phase 1 dose escalation study of TKM-080301, a RNAi therapeutic directed against PLK1, in patients with advanced solid tumors" and discuss results from Tekmira's Phase 1 clinical trial with TKM-PLK1, which employs a unique lipid nanoparticle developed for oncology applications.
About RNAi and Tekmira's LNP
RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat a broad number of human diseases by "silencing" disease causing genes. The discoverers of RNAi, a gene silencing mechanism used by all cells, were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. RNAi therapeutics, such as "siRNAs," require delivery technology to be effective systemically. Tekmira believes its LNP technology represents the most widely adopted delivery technology for the systemic delivery of RNAi therapeutics. Tekmira's LNP platform is being utilized in multiple clinical trials by both Tekmira and its partners. Tekmira's LNP technology (formerly referred to as stable nucleic acid-lipid particles or SNALP) encapsulates siRNAs with high efficiency in uniform lipid nanoparticles that are effective in delivering RNAi therapeutics to disease sites in numerous preclinical models. Tekmira's LNP formulations are manufactured by a proprietary method which is robust, scalable and highly reproducible, and LNP-based products have been reviewed by multiple FDA divisions for use in clinical trials. LNP formulations comprise several lipid components that can be adjusted to suit the specific application.