Topic: How To Invest

Is now a good time to buy Tekmira Pharmaceuticals? It just had a big jump.

Article Excerpt

Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, $33.23, symbol TKM on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 19.0 million; Market cap: $626.6 million; www.tekmirapharm.com), is a biopharmaceutical firm that focuses on RNAi therapeutics. RNAi therapeutics have the potential to treat a number of human diseases by “silencing” disease-causing genes. The discoverers of RNAi, a gene-silencing mechanism that all cells use, were awarded the 2006 Nobel Prize in the physiology-or-medicine category. To be effective, RNAi treatments need special delivery systems. Tekmira believes its lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology is the best method. Some drugs, like RNAi, are not water-soluble, which makes them difficult to deliver into the body. However, lipid nanoparticles can be used to encapsulate the RNAi and help the body absorb it. For the three months ended September 30, 2013, Tekmira reported revenue of $3.1 million, up from $2.1 million a year earlier. Almost all of the company’s revenue came from its development of Ebola virus treatment TKM-Ebola under a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense. As of September 30, 2013,…