¶ Protiva Biotherapeutics
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Protiva Biotherapeutics was a Canadian biotechnology company based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
¶ History
To improve prospects of successfully advancing gene therapy techniques, a team of scientists at the University of British Columbia (UBC) led by Pieter Cullis developed and patented a new form of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) designed to deliver genetic material to host cells.[1] From 1994 onward, a series of patents were filed describing the technology Cullis and his colleagues created, including the addition of a chemical called polyethylene glycol (PEG) to further increase the LNP’s ability to pass into cells.[2][3][4][5]
This included a variation on the LNP design that Cullis developed in 2000 with several colleagues including Ian MacLachlan, which became the basis for a spinoff company the team named Protiva Biotherapeutics, focused entirely on gene therapy.[6][7]
¶ Partnerships
In 2001, Protiva received a $14.5 million investment from Lumira Ventures.[8]
Protiva partnered with Roche subsidiary Alnylam Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Massachusetts to collaboratively develop products using RNAi to inhibit, or “turn off”, target genes (compared to mRNA, which turns on production of proteins), which bore fruit in a 2006 study demonstrating success silencing genes in monkeys.[9]
The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) participated in multiple rounds of investing into Protiva, including $4,950,000 in 2006 and $3,300,000 in 2007.[10] The BDC is wholly owned by the Government of Canada, meaning the federal government has a potential financial conflict of interest in the COVID-19 vaccines that later used lipid nanoparticle licenses associated with Protiva.
¶ Merger with Tekmira
On March 30, 2008, Protiva announced it was combining its business with Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, reuniting the intellectual property that had become scattered across several startups out of the University of British Columbia (UBC). The new joint company signed a new deal with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals to allow access to their lipid nanoparticle patents - a key component of achieving their self-described “Alnylam 2020” strategy.[11][12]
¶ External links
Kulkarni, J. A., Cullis, P. R., & van der Meel, R. (2018). Lipid nanoparticles enabling gene therapies: from concepts to clinical utility. Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, 28(3), 146–157. https://doi.org/10.1089/nat.2018.0721 ↩︎
Choi, L. S. L., Madden, T. D., & Webb, M. S. (1994, September 30). Polyethylene glycol modified ceramide lipids and liposome uses thereof. Canadian Patents Database. http://archive.today/2022.03.08-204712/https://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2201120/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1 ↩︎
Madden, T. D., Cullis, P. R., & Holland, J. W. (1994). Bilayer stabilizing components and their use in forming programmable fusogenic liposomes (Canadian Intellectual Property Office Patent No. 2201121). Canadian Patents Database. http://archive.today/2022.03.08-204044/https://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2201121/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1 ↩︎
Cullis, P. R., Fenske, D. B., Hope, M. J., & Wong, K. F. (1995, February 27). Method for loading lipid vesicles (Canadian Intellectual Property Office Patent No. CA 2213861). Canadian Patents Database. http://archive.today/2022.03.08-213848/https://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2213861/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1 ↩︎
Cullis, P. R., Choi, L. S. L., Monck, M., & Bailey, A. (1996, April 11). Fusogenic liposomes (Canadian Intellectual Property Office Patent No. CA 2252055). Canadian Patent Database. http://archive.today/2022.03.08-215546/https://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2252055/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1 ↩︎
Cullis, P. R., Fenske, D. B., & MacLachlan, I. (2000, October 25). Lipid formulations for target delivery (Canadian Intellectual Property Office Patent No. CA 2426244). Canadian Patents Database. http://archive.today/2022.03.08-235645/https://www.ic.gc.ca/opic-cipo/cpd/eng/patent/2426244/summary.html?type=number_search&tabs1Index=tabs1_1 ↩︎
Vardi, N. (2021, August 17). COVID’s forgotten hero: the untold story of the scientist whose breakthrough made the vaccines possible. Forbes. http://archive.today/2022.03.22-150124/https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2021/08/17/covids-forgotten-hero-the-untold-story-of-the-scientist-whose-breakthrough-made-the-vaccines-possible/?sh=5855d68a354f ↩︎
FOI Request - HTH-2015-51828. (2016, February 12). Government of British Columbia. https://web.archive.org/web/20220428045844/http://docs.openinfo.gov.bc.ca/Response_Package_HTH-2015-51828.pdf ↩︎
Zimmermann, T. S., Lee, A. C. H., Akinc, A., Bramlage, B., Bumcrot, D., Fedoruk, M. N., Harborth, J., Heyes, J. A., Jeffs, L. B., John, M., Judge, A. D., Lam, K., McClintock, K., Nechev, L. V., Palmer, L. R., Racie, T., Röhl, I., Seiffert, S., Shanmugam, S., & Sood, V. (2006). RNAi-mediated gene silencing in non-human primates. Nature, 441(7089), 111–114. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04688 ↩︎
laura998. (2018). Protiva Biotherapeutics. RaisedToday. http://archive.today/2022.04.28-050505/https://www.raisedtoday.com/en/company/protiva-biotherapeutics ↩︎
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Protiva Biotherapeutics announce business combination to create new company focused on RNAi delivery and therapeutics. (2008, March 31). Fierce Biotech. http://archive.today/2022.03.22-142058/https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/tekmira-pharmaceuticals-corporation-and-protiva-biotherapeutics-announce-business ↩︎
Lindenboom, C. R., & Brodsky, J. (2021, January 10). Alnylam launches “Alnylam P5x25” strategy for planned transition to a top five biotech in market capitalization over next five years. Business Wire; Berkshire Hathaway. http://archive.today/2022.03.22-160320/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210110005034/en/Alnylam-Launches-“Alnylam-P5x25”-Strategy-for-Planned-Transition-to-a-Top-Five-Biotech-in-Market-Capitalization-Over-Next-Five-Years ↩︎