¶ Inex Pharmaceuticals
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Inex Pharmaceuticals was a Canadian biopharmaceutical company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was the predecessor to Tekmira Pharmaceuticals.
¶ History
Dr. Pieter Cullis was among the scientists experimenting with liposomes in the early 1980s, fascinated by their properties in many aspects of human biology.[1] He discovered he could load cancer drugs into liposomes, inspiring him and several colleagues to form Inex Pharmaceuticals in 1992.[2]
To improve prospects of successfully advancing gene therapy techniques, Cullis developed and patented a new form of lipid nanoparticle designed to deliver genetic material to host cells.[3] 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.[4][5][6][7]
¶ Government investment
On November 12, 1999, Inex “entered into a Technology Partnerships Canada ("TPC") agreement with the Canadian Federal Government” to support the development of “certain oligonucleotide product candidates”.[8]
Inex Pharmaceuticals is proudly featured as a government investment in TPC's annual report from 2000. The report describes "INEX’s unique delivery technology, called Transmembrane Carrier System (TCS), which enables [drugs] to live longer in the bloodstream and increases their ability to reach disease sites."[9] TCS is the term used to describe the liposome-lipid nanoparticle technology in its earliest days of development.
¶ Spinoffs
A variation on the LNP design that Cullis developed in 2000 with several colleagues including Dr. Ian MacLachlan became the basis for a spinoff company the team named Protiva Biotherapeutics, focused entirely on gene therapy.[10][11]
In 2001, Inex had made deals to develop a product with GlaxoSmithKline.[12] By 2004, Inex was in the research stage of preparing their own targeted “cancer vaccine” program.[13] However, after the United States Food and Drug Administration declined to approve their chemotherapy products, Cullis quit, the company downsized and rebranded to Tekmira Pharmaceuticals.[14][15]
¶ Organization
| Name | Position | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Pieter Cullis | Co-founder[2:1] | Acuitas Therapeutics, Integrated Nanotherapeutics, Precision NanoSystems, Centre for Drug Research and Development, NanoMedicines Innovation Network |
| Jim Pankovich | Associate Director, Clinical Research[16] | Qu Biologics, MIGENIX, CV Technologies |
¶ External links
¶ Further reading
- February 13, 2023: "Follow the Patents: Lipid Nanoparticles and COVID-19 Genetic Vaccines" by Liam Sturgess
Horejs, C. (2021). From lipids to lipid nanoparticles to mRNA vaccines. Nature Reviews Materials. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41578-021-00379-9 ↩︎
Technology Overview. (2000, June 4). Inex Pharmaceuticals. http://archive.today/2000.06.04-233753/http://inexpharm.com/technology_frame.html ↩︎ ↩︎
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 Patents 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 ↩︎
Arbutus BioPharma Corporation. (2015, September 30). Form 10-Q. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://web.archive.org/web/20171208092809/https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1447028/000106299315005809/form10q.htm ↩︎
Annual Report 1999-2000. Technology Partnerships Canada. Retrieved February 12, 2023, from https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/industrial-technologies-office/sites/default/files/attachments/tpc_1999_2000_e.pdf ↩︎
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 ↩︎
2004 Annual Report. (2004). Inex Pharmaceuticals Corporation. https://web.archive.org/web/20220322135752/https://doc.morningstar.com/Document/2ded6a03c7093ab6.msdoc/original?clientid=globaldocuments&key=52dbc583e1012395 ↩︎
Inex Pharmaceuticals slashes more staff as CEO departs. (2005, June 21). CBC News; CBC/Radio-Canada. http://archive.today/2022.03.22-140227/https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/inex-pharmaceuticals-slashes-more-staff-as-ceo-departs-1.525609 ↩︎
INEX Pharmaceuticals provides timeline for completing spin-out of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation. (2007, February 26). BioSpace. http://archive.today/2022.03.22-140608/https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/inex-pharmaceuticals-provides-timeline-for-completing-spin-out-of-tekmira-pharmaceuticals-corporation-/ ↩︎
Inex Pharmaceuticals announces completion of spin-out of Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corporation. (2007, May 1). Arbutus Bio. https://web.archive.org/web/20230314080401/https://investor.arbutusbio.com/static-files/7043d792-acbb-47ae-9b0f-ce74445f583a ↩︎
Jang, J. (2015, June 10). Qu Biologics Appoints Jim Pankovich as Vice President, Clinical Operations and Drug Development. Qu Biologics. https://web.archive.org/web/20230830185536/https://www.qubiologics.com/qu-biologics-appoints-jim-pankovich-as-vice-president-clinical-operations-and-drug-development/ ↩︎