User:Liaton9000/Acuitas Therapeutics

Acuitas Therapeutics Inc. is a Canadian biotechnology company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The company was established in February 2009 to specialize in the development of delivery systems for nucleic acid therapeutics based on lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology, a key component of the mRNA vaccines deployed for COVID-19.

History
Acuitas was founded in February 2009 by Thomas Madden, Pieter Cullis and Michael Hope. With early financial support from National Research Council Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP), the company spent several years establishing its research and development capabilities and building out its staff. This led to its development of a viable lipid nanoparticle platform that showed promise for use in a variety of medical applications including chemotherapy, gene therapy and genetic vaccines.

The NRC awarded Acuitas a $173,020 grant in September 2013 and a $498,640 grant in February 2015 to continue their research and development.

In April 2016, Acuitas entered a development and option agreement with German biotechnology company CureVac to jointly develop a product incorporating Acuitas' LNP technology with CureVac's mRNA materials. The encapsulated mRNA product described under the agreement was commissioned for use in in vitro and animal testing for pre-clinical trials of a vaccine candidate. Acuitas also worked on developing an mRNA vaccine against rabies.

COVID-19
According to President and CEO Thomas Madden, Acuitas began working towards a COVID-19 vaccine in February 2020. The company also partnered with CureVac and Imperial College London for their own vaccine trials. Madden noted that the mRNA vaccine platform would allow for rapid development of updated vaccines in case the SARS-CoV-2 virus evolved beyond the immunity generated by the initial formulation, though additional clinical testing would still be required. He also stated that the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine would stop the spread of the virus and infection in vaccinated individuals.

On December 9, 2020, Acuitas released a statement celebrating Health Canada's approval of Pfizer and BioNTech's BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccine, stating they had “made history” due to their collaboration through the LNP delivery system, “a key element… in the development of this vaccine.”

Partners
Acuitas has partnered with several notable pharmaceutical companies and universities to collaboratively advance specific product candidates, as well as to support the broader development of the personalized medicine sector.