Four HBV Product Candidates Advancing In Human Clinical Trials in 1H16
Three IND Filings in 2016 for Oral HBV Drug Candidates Targeting cccDNA, S-Antigen, and Core Protein
New Business Unit Established to Maximize Value of Tekmira's Non-HBV Assets
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and DOYLESTOWN, Pa., July 20, 2015 (GLOBE
NEWSWIRE) -- Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Nasdaq:TKMR) today
announced plans to change its corporate name to Arbutus Biopharma
Corporation ("Arbutus", ticker symbol "ABUS"), an industry-leading
therapeutic solutions company focused on developing a cure for chronic
hepatitis B virus infection (HBV), to be effective on or before August
3, 2015. The name change affirms the successful integration of OnCore
BioPharma and Tekmira Pharmaceuticals into a combined company with the
singular goal of delivering a cure for chronic HBV. The combined entity
currently fields the largest portfolio of HBV product candidates in the
industry and is led by an experienced and proven leadership team shown
below with notable prior experience.
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Mark J. Murray, Ph.D., President and CEO; formerly of Protiva, Zymogentics, and Xcyte Therapeutics
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Patrick T. Higgins, Chief Business Officer; co-founder of OnCore BioPharma; formerly of Pharmasset and Roche
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Bruce Cousins, Chief Financial Officer; formerly of Aspreva and Johnson & Johnson
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Michael J. Sofia, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer; co-founder of
OnCore BioPharma; formerly of Pharmasset (inventor of sofosbuvir for
hepatitis C), Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Eli Lilly
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William T. Symonds, Pharm.D., Chief Development Officer; formerly of
Gilead Sciences, Pharmasset (clinical development of sofosbuvir for
hepatitis C), and GlaxoSmithKline
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Mark Kowalski, MD, Chief Medical Officer; formerly of Gilead Sciences, YM BioSciences, and Viventia Biotechnologies
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Peter Lutwyche Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer, formerly of Protiva, QLT, and Inex Pharmaceuticals
"We are very excited about the prospects for our integrated new
company, which has undergone a transformation to a complete HBV
solutions company. The company possesses exceptionally strong and proven
clinical development, scientific, and commercial leadership teams and
is very well resourced to execute against our goal of delivering a cure
for chronic HBV. We believe that the market opportunity for a curative
regimen for HBV is very significant, likely eclipsing the HCV market,
and presents a meaningful opportunity for shareholders," said Dr. Mark
J. Murray, President and CEO of Tekmira. "We remain very confident in
our potential to create value from our industry-leading strategy, team,
and pipeline dedicated to developing therapeutic solutions to cure HBV."
Strategy for HBV Development
We believe the solution to HBV lies in combination therapies. The
development strategy of Tekmira is to first establish safety and
activity of individual product candidates, followed by rapid progression
to small cohort combination studies (with multiple products) to
identify the most promising regimens. A key feature of this strategy is
the planned speed of evaluation of different combinations, doses, and
treatment durations - a strategy previously used by this leadership team
at Pharmasset in developing sofosbuvir for HCV. Tekmira's broad
pipeline of HBV product candidates, which will be further expanded
through business development activity, will enable the company to
rapidly advance the best product candidates and combination regimens and
discontinue product development investment where it is no longer
justified. Unique to our company is a commitment to a broad strategy and
not to
any individual product candidates. Our HBV pipeline currently consists
of the product candidates shown in the chart that can be viewed by
clicking the following link:
http://media.globenewswire.com/cache/14025/file/35721.pdf
Read complete press release here...Labels: Tekmira