DoD to continue funding Tekmira's Ebola program
The U.S. Department of Defense said it will continue funding only one of two Ebola medical countermeasure R&D contracts that were suspended in August due to government budget constraints. The government selected the TKM-Ebola program from Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp. (TSX:TKM; NASDAQ:TKMR), which in 2010 received a contract worth up to $140 million. TKM-Ebola is an LNP-formulated combination of short interfering RNAs targeting Zaire Ebola L polymerase, Zaire Ebola membrane-associated protein ( VP24) and Zaire Ebola polymerase complex protein ( VP35) (see BioCentury, July 26, 2010).
In August, DoD issued stop-work orders for Tekmira's program and one from Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:SRPT) for AVI-7537, a nucleic acid analog based on morpholino-modified phosphorodiamidate oligomers (PMO) antisense chemistry. Sarepta and Tekmira could not be reached for comment in time for publication. ...