Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation revealed plans to halt its work on TKM-Ebola and change its corporate name to Arbutus Biopharma Corporation. Arbutus will focus on developing a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus infection (HBV). The name change affirms the integration of OnCore BioPharma and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals into a combined company with the goal of delivering a cure for chronic HBV. The combined entity fields the largest portfolio of HBV product candidates in the industry.

Tekmira has also formed a business unit for Tekmira’s non-HBV assets that includes preclinical RNAi product candidates, IP and related know how of the lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology platform, and multiple strategic partnerships exploiting the LNP technology. The company said development activities related to TKM-Ebola will be suspended and a joint re-evaluation of the development contract with the U.S. Department of Defense is underway.