ARBUTUS BIOPHARMA (F.K.A TEKMIRA PHARMACEUTICALS) – GLAUCUS RESEARCH
Bonitas Research, 10 November 2014
Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp (NASDAQ: TKMR) (“Tekmira” or the “Company”) is a Vancouver-based biopharmaceutical
company focused on developing RNA-interference (“RNAi”) delivery technology using the Company’s proprietary lipid
nanoparticle (“LNP”) delivery platform. In the last three months, Tekmira’s share price has nearly doubled because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) temporarily lifted a clinical hold on the Company’s anti-Ebola RNAi therapeutic (“TKM Ebola”) to allow the drug’s administration to Ebola infected patients in emergency situations.
Tekmira is hugely overvalued and its share price is poised to collapse. Tekmira’s RNAi technology is unproven, the FDA halted TKM Ebola’s Phase I trial because of safety concerns, and despite limited use it appears that the drug is unpopular among treating physicians. In our view, the drug is highly likely to fail the FDA approval process. Once the speculative bubble bursts, we believe that Tekmira’s shares will crash to a pre-Ebola price of $7-10 per share.
