Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. has entered into a manufacturing and clinical trial agreement with the University of Oxford to provide the new TKM-Ebola-Guinea therapeutic product for clinical studies in West Africa, which are expected to begin early next year.
 
The University is the representative of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium (ISARIC), which will conduct the clinical studies with funding provided by the Wellcome Trust. GMP manufacture of TKM-Ebola-Guinea is now complete and 100 treatment courses are available for the study.
 
“We are very pleased that TKM-Ebola-Guinea will be studied in patients and result in benefit to them. While the clinical protocol is still being finalized, the studies are designed to establish efficacy, so that an effective therapeutic can be available to patients,” said Dr. Mark J. Murray, Tekmira’s president and chief executive officer.
 
Results of preclinical studies with TKM-Ebola-Guinea demonstrated efficacy results comparable to those obtained with TKM-Ebola, which has demonstrated up to 100% protection from an otherwise lethal dose of the virus.
 
“TKM-Ebola-Guinea underscores how RNAi-based technology allows for rapid response to emerging viral variants,” said Dr. Murray.