Ebola, Tekmira Pharma, Highlight SF BIO Investor Forum Meeting

San Francisco, The Palace Hotel, BIO Investor Forum meeting, Tues. Oct. 7, 2014. The annual BIO Investor Forum opened its meeting at midday with welcome remarks and a program change that included new information about the urgent subject about healthcare developments in Ebola among other topics. The welcome remarks featured a short discussion with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals’ CEO, Dr. Mark Murray PhD about his firm’s involvement in this fast moving healthcare area. Dr. Murray touched on the fact that Tekmira is working on a promising early stage antiviral drug to treat patients infected by the ebola virus. More details would follow at his afternoon investor talk

Dr. Murray said in his afternoon investor talk that Tekmira Pharmaceuticals uses an RNA interference based therapeutic in their ebola drug development program.  RNA interference (RNAi) is a naturally occurring internal cellular process that shuts down the production of targeted proteins. Dr. Mark Murray also talked about Tekmira’s drug therapy developments in nine clinical programs underway.  He said that Tekmira can trigger RNAi, but needs a delivery technology that uses the LNP-RNAi trigger mechanism.  They are working on the TKM-PLK1, TKM-H8v, TKM-ebola drug programs.  The firm is using the FDA orphan drug rare disease designation for HTG, GSD4 and so on. Their Lipid NanoParticle (LNP) partner, is Anylum, using their ALN-TTR02 platform.

Tekmira has nine products in its clinical pipeline. Dr. Murray said that its lead products include two antiviral programs.  The TKM-HBV is being developed to treat Hepatitis B and is being readied for sometime in 2015. The TKM-Ebola program is in phase 1 clinical testing.  The FDA gave Tekmira a‘Fast track’ designation for the program.  Dr. Murray added that the product formulation gave a very high survival result in animal testing using monkeys.  Tekmira will work with the World Health Organization (WHO) in the West African region for its ebola drug human clinical testing program.

Oncology product programs. The TEK-PLK1 product acts on pololukekine-1, which is found in many tumor types, usually ones linked to poor outcomes.  The tumor types include GI neuroendochrine tumor and adenocortico cancer.

Rare disease program. Hyper trigliceridemia. The condition leads to pancreatitis.  GSD glycogen is a rare condition.

Financials. Tekmira Pharmaceuticals (TKMR) is a public stock company located in Toronto, Canada, is on the NASDAQ stock Exchange and has a $528Million market cap.

Drug Program Status.

• 2014    PLK1 Phase I/II
• 2015    Follow on of clinic activity.

Dr. Murray concluded his talk by saying that for further information go to the company website at ir@tekmira.com.

Several hundred investors and presenting company officials gathered at this year’s BIO Investor Forum meeting for one-on-one partnering meetings, 128 company presentations, plenary informational talks, workshops and networking.

 

Growing Ebola Outbreak in West Africa Fosters Urgent Need for More Drugs and Tests to Help

A man who recently returned from west Africa to Dallas, Texas yesterday was admitted to a hospital there sick from Ebola. He is the first US case of a tourist to be infected by the deadly disease. The CDC confirmed his diagnosis. The newswires are abuzz about how this man traveled from Africa on a commercial airliner to the US while infected with the Ebola virus.

This story follows the two Ebola infected US doctors who were airlifted in a specially equipped airplane to an Atlanta hospital where they were treated and recovered. This Ebola outbreak is the largest one since it was discovered in 1976 in the Congo.

Since the Ebola cases double every 21 days, public health experts estimate that there might be 300,000 to 500,000 cases in west Africa by year-end and perhaps a million cases by mid-January 2015. The US has committed 3,000 troops to the area to provide supportive care to the decimated health care workforce.

Several drug companies have developed experimental drugs and vaccines that are in clinical trials that may be fast tracked to African patients a some point in the future.

• Mapp Biopharmaceutical of Sorrento Mesa –ZMapp serum
• Newlink Genetics Corp.  Earlier in the month, FDA gave it the OK Phase clinical trial for its Ebola vaccine.
• Sarepta Therapeutics Inc. Sarepta is developing a treatment designated AVI-7537 to treat the Ebola virus.
• GlaxoSmithKline PLC .Glaxo is working with the National Institutes of Health’s Vaccine Research Center to help develop of an early stage vaccine for Ebola.
• Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Inc. TKM-Ebola is in Phase 1, clinical trials.

MacWorld/iWorld 2014 Returns to Moscone North

SAN FRANCISCO (HighTech Reports), Moscone North, March 27, 2014 – MacWorld/ iWorld 2014. It was refreshing to see that MacWorld/ iWorld returned to Moscone North, MacWorld’s former location of years ago. There were around 30,000 attendees at this year’s MacWorld. The exhibit floor seemed bigger than last year and highlighted more booths that we visited. We spent some time in the MacIT room where companies that had booths gave presentations. While there, we learned about products from Printer Logic, Lantronix, Absolute Software, Parallels, and Crash Plan.

Printer Logic sells an enterprise software app that attaches to Windows 2008R file server. The app replaces print server boxes in the enterprise. A license for up to 50 printers costs $5,000. The spokesperson said that most users have 25-30 printers. Each client driver for Mac/Windows PCs links to the printer app via Wi-Fi that scales very big in the enterprise. For example, the Department of Homeland Security used its service to reduce support calls for print servers that went down. The app solution was more efficient and saved the client money.

Absolute Software makes software that helps organizations manage all types of computer assets: PCs, laptops, tablets, phones, etc. It helps track the life cycle of all IT equipment assets to end-of-life. For example, the software helps Apple track iTunes content licensee IP assets. The firm’s solution helped the Columbine school track tablets, laptops, and thefts from intruders entering its campus. The company puts a special sticker on devices with a phone number to call if a child gets cyber bullied. The victimized child connects to a caring person to talk to and so forth. Absolute Software is also exploring other vertical markets.