Tekmira Joins International Consortium in Developing RNAi-Based Ebola Therapy

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a developer of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics, announced on Sept. 23, 2014 that it will collaborate with an international consortium to provide an RNAi-based investigational therapeutic for expedited clinical studies in West Africa.

The consortium includes representatives from many organizations including WHO, US Centers for Disease Control, Médecins Sans Frontières - Doctors without Borders (MSF), ISARIC, and Fondation Mérieux.

The Wellcome Trust awarded £3.2 million (approximately $5.2 million USD) to the consortium to fund the manufacture of investigational therapeutics as well as the establishment of an operational clinical trials platform in two or more Ebola virus disease (EVD) treatment centers in West Africa.

The clinical trials will assess the efficacy and safety of promising therapeutics and vaccines to treat patients with EVD.

Tekmira will use the genetic sequence of the Ebola virus variant responsible for the ongoing outbreak in West Africa to design an RNAi-based product to specifically target this viral strain.

Source: Tekmira