Tekmira, Pfizer Launch RNAi Collaboration

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer have launched a new research collaboration to evaluate Tekmira’s stable nucleic acid-lipid particle (SNALP) technology’s ability to deliver small interfering RNA (siRNA) molecules provided by Pfizer. Tekmira will be responsible for preparing the SNALP formulations and Pfizer will evaluate the formulations in preclinical models. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

Dr. Mark J. Murray, Tekmira’s president and chief executive officer, remarked, “We are pleased to be working with Pfizer, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and an organization that has made a commitment to the development of nucleic acid therapeutics. The collaboration combines Tekmira’s expertise in the delivery of RNAi therapeutics with Pfizer’s research excellence in nucleic acid therapeutics. We continue to collaborate with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies thereby broadening the use of our leading SNALP delivery platform. Our goal is to sign additional collaborative agreements in 2010.”

This is Tekmira’s first formal research collaboration with Pfizer. Tekmira currently has license or collaborative agreements in place with seven other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.