Acuitas Therapeutics
Acuitas is a private company based in Vancouver, British Columbia and was founded in February 2009. We are partnered with multiple pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies and academic institutes to advance nucleic acid therapeutics to the clinic and to the marketplace. Acuitas is a biotechnology company that works with partners to develop new therapies to address unmet clinical needs based on our internationally recognized capabilities in delivery technology.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Pharmaceuticals
- Market Focus:
- Nationally (across the country)
- Year Founded:
- 2009
About Us
President's Message
We work with partners and thought-leaders to advance nucleic acid therapeutics into clinical development and commercialization. Our vision is to provide delivery technology that fully enables nucleic acid medicines and thereby address unmet clinical needs.
Key Capabilities
- Clinically validated LNP delivery technology
- Broad IP portfolio covering LNP delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics
- State-of-the-art models to characterize nucleic acid therapeutics
- Experienced team to advance products from R&D into clinical development
- Excellent communication and project management skills to support our collaboration partners
Our Journey
Acuitas is a private company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was founded in February 2009 by Dr. Thomas Madden, Dr. Pieter Cullis and Dr. Michael Hope. Acuitas specializes in the development of delivery systems for nucleic acid therapeutics based on lipid nanoparticles (LNP).
Today, Acuitas partners with a range of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academic institutes and thought leaders from around the world to advance nucleic acid therapeutics to the clinic and to the marketplace. Our vision is to provide delivery technology that fully enables nucleic acid medicines and to thereby address unmet clinical needs.
Acuitas is globally known as a leader in the field of lipid nanotechnology. The team, led by President & CEO, Dr. Thomas Madden, is made up of a diverse group of highly experienced scientists and technical and administrative professionals – all of whom are committed to excellence in their respective roles in the company.
Dr. Madden obtained his BSc. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of London, U.K. He has held several senior academic positions and is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
Acuitas’ scientists have synthesized over 500 novel cationic lipids and have evaluated these novel compounds in LNP. This evaluation characterizes the potency and safety of the LNP carriers for the delivery of nucleic acid payloads including siRNA, mRNA and DNA.
The team has undertaken the biophysical characterization of such novel LNP systems and has conducted correlation analyses to determine which structural and biophysical properties of the cationic lipids are critical for activity and safety, and uses this knowledge to guide subsequent lipid and LNP development. This rational design and screening approach has resulted in the identification of LNP compositions with a greatly improved potency and therapeutic index. In collaboration with other scientists, the team has also established the mechanism by which LNP carriers are taken up by cells.
Importantly, Acuitas LNP systems are clinically validated. An LNP developed by Acuitas is used by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals for Onpattro™. Onpattro™ was approved in 2018 in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis, a rare and otherwise fatal genetic disease characterized by an abnormal buildup of a protein called amyloid in the body’s organs and tissues. Onpattro™ is the first in a new class of drugs, called RNAi therapeutics, to receive regulatory approval.
Acuitas continues to work with high-profile international partners, providing our LNP delivery technology to enable new drugs based on nucleic acid therapeutics. This includes partnering with BioNTech/Pfizer for COMIRNATY®, a COVID-19 vaccine that is being administered to protect people around the world. COMIRNATY® has received full approval for use by the FDA in the U.S. and by Health Canada and has been authorized for Emergency Use in multiple jurisdictions around the world. COMIRNATY® has demonstrated the potential for mRNA-LNP vaccines to protect against a serious viral disease, and Acuitas is now working with academic and industry partners to develop vaccines against other challenging infectious diseases, including malaria, HIV and tuberculosis. Together with our partners, we are also evaluating mRNA-LNP immunomodulation therapies to treat cancer.
About Our Technology
Acuitas specializes in the development of delivery systems for nucleic acid therapeutics based on lipid nanoparticles (LNP). Acuitas LNP carriers are clinically validated and can be given by various routes of administration. Further, Acuitas has established the mechanism by which our LNP carriers are taken up by cells (Akin et al 2010 DOI:10.1038/mt.2010.85). In collaboration with industry and academic partners, we have shown the potential clinical application of messenger RNA (mRNA)-LNP as vaccines (Pardi et al 2017 DOI:10.1038/nature21428), protein replacement therapeutics (Thess et al 2015 DOI:10.1038/mt.2015.103), gene silencing (Jayamaran et al 2012 DOI:10.1002/anie.201203263) and antibody therapeutics (Pardi et al 2017 DOI:10.1038/ncomms14630). We are also evaluating mRNA-LNP for various gene editing applications. Together, with our partners, we continue to advance and optimize our delivery technology to address unmet clinical needs.