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Inex Pharmaceuticals
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.4567
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.1011
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.1415
Organization
See team members on the COVID Truth Initiative website.
External links
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