Prescription for growth

We, at biotuesdays.com, attended Dundee Capital Markets’ second emerging growth conference last week, where over 20 technology, life sciences and industrial growth companies presented. Dundee specializes in early-stage growth, and to say that the one-day showcase was jammed full of investment ideas is a bit of understatement. Here’s a sampling of what we took away [...]

Tekmira gets patents in U.S. and Europe

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office and the European Patent Office have issued key patents covering elements of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals‘ (TSX:TKM; NASDAQ:TKMR) lipid nanoparticle technology, which is used to deliver nucleic acid therapeutics, including small interfering RNA (siRNA). The European agency granted claims covering Tekmira’s proprietary manufacturing process and apparatus for the production of lipid [...]

Tekmira wins $2.4 million NIH grant

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX:TKM) and its collaborators at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Tex. have received a $2.4 million (U.S.) grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health to support research to develop RNAi therapeutics to treat Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever viral infections using Tekmira’s lipid nanoparticle delivery technology. According to a [...]

Tekmira receives three U.S. patents

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued three key patents covering portions of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals‘ (TSX:TKM) lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, which are used to deliver nucleic acid drugs, including small interfering RNA. “These new patents cover key components of our LNP technology, which is already well validated in preclinical studies and is currently part [...]

Tekmira amends license pact with Hana

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX:TKM) has amended its licence agreement with Hana Biosciences (NASDAQ:HNAB), covering three legacy chemotherapy candidates licensed to Hana in 2006. Under the amendment, Hana will make a payment of $5.75 million (U.S.) to Tekmira in consideration for reducing certain future payments associated with the product candidates. Tekmira, in turn, will transfer the $5.75 [...]

Tekmira delays next TKM-ApoB trial

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX:TKM) has decided to delay the start of the next TKM-ApoB clinical trial based on a review on non-clinical data. “We are not satisfied with the performance of our current TKM-ApoB LNP formulation for its intended use,” CEO Andy Shelton said in a statement. “We are going to focus on selecting an alternative [...]

FDA clears Tekmira Phase 1 trial

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX:TKM) has been cleared by the FDA to begin a Phase 1 human trial of its TKM-PLK1 treatment for patients with advanced solid tumour cancers, who are not well served by current therapy. The trial is scheduled to start before the end of 2010. It is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and [...]

Tekmira files IND with FDA

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX:TKM) has filed an investigational new drug application seeking approval from the FDA to begin a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate PLK1 SNALP as a treatment for solid tumour cancers. “This is another important milestone for Tekmira as we continue to both advance our own pipeline of RNA-interference drug candidates and support our [...]

Tekmira lands up to $140 million contract for Ebola SNALP

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TSX:TKM) has received a contract from U.S. Government’s chemical and biological defense program initially valued at up to $34.7 million (U.S.) to develop an RNA-interference therapeutic utilizing its SNALP lipid nanoparticle technology to treat Ebola virus infection. The initial three-year funding covers work through preclinical development, filing of an IND application with the [...]

Tekmira partner starts human trials of ALN-TTR01

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ALNY), one of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals‘ (TSX:TKM) partners, has initiated dosing in a Phase 1 clinical trial of its ALN-TTR01 product candidate in patients with transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (ATTR), a disease that results in damage to the peripheral nerves and heart. ALN-TTR01 is a RNA-interference therapeutic that uses Tekmira’s lipid nanoparticle delivery technology, SNALP (stable [...]