Acuitas Therapeutics is a private company incorporated in British Columbia, Canada. They were founded in February 2009 (initially as AlCana Technologies). Their “goal is to apply nanotechnology delivery solutions to improve the therapeutic options available to patients.” They are the developers of the lipid nanoparticle (LNP) used to delivery mRNA code into cells. [1, 2]
By 2013 they used “rational design” to synthesize “over 200 novel cationic lipids and then screened these in an in vivo model system”. The process starts with “a key lipid component of stable nucleic acid lipid particles (SNALP)” and has “resulted in the identification of LNP compositions with greatly improved potency and therapeutic index“. [5]
They have “partnered with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals [USA], the University of British Columbia [Canada], IRAP and others on several research and development programs relating to systemic delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics. ”
Acuitas owns intellectual property (IP) rights to LNP technology for development of protein replacement therapeutics.
In 2013 the company found “proof of concept” using mRNA that coded for luciferase, that the Acuitas LNP traveled to the liver when administered intravenously and the cells manufactured and expressed luciferase. [3]
Acuitas Therapeutics’ lipid nanoparticles are labelled ALC-0315 and ALC-0159 [4] and are used by BioNTech-Pfizer in their CV-19 vaccine.