Dr. Mark Murray reports

TEKMIRA'S LIPID NANOPARTICLE (LNP) TECHNOLOGY TARGETING MARBURG VIRUS HIGHLIGHTED IN SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION

A peer-reviewed scientific journal has published data which highlight positive results in an animal model of Marburg virus infection enabled by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp.'s lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology.

Tekmira, along with its collaborators at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, United States, published data demonstrating complete protection of non-human primates against lethal Marburg virus Angola hemorrhagic fever (MARV Angola) when treatment began even up to three days following infection. The study appears in the Aug. 20, 2014, edition of the Science Translational Medicine journal.

"These positive findings build upon our extensive work in anti-viral RNAi therapeutics and provide further validation of our strong LNP product platform, which includes RNAi therapeutics addressing chronic Hepatitis B infection and lethal hemorrhagic fever viruses," said Dr. Mark Murray, Tekmira's president and chief executive officer.

The study was designed to determine whether it is possible to protect animals against a lethal MARV Angola infection when treatment was started at a point when animals have detectable levels of the virus in their system and already show the first clinical signs of disease.

Funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services supported this research.

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.

About University of Texas Medical Branch

Texas's first academic health centre opened its doors in 1891, and today comprises four health sciences schools, three institutes for advanced study, a research enterprise that includes one of only two national laboratories dedicated to the safe study of infectious threats to human health, and a health system offering a full range of primary and specialized medical services throughout Galveston county and the Texas Gulf Coast region. UTMB Health is a component of the University of Texas system and a member of the Texas Medical Center.

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