ContraVir partners with Canadian research firm for hepatitis research

Edison-based ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in targeted antiviral therapies, has formed a partnership with Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology in Edmonton.Edison-based ContraVir Pharmaceuticals, which specializes in targeted antiviral therapies, has formed a partnership with Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology in Edmonton.

The collaboration will involve the research and development of viral vaccines and antiviral therapies to reduce deaths due to viral infections. The research will focus on human epidemiologic and genetic studies, which the Li Ka Shing Institute specializes in.

The Li Ka Shing Institute, founded in 2010 from more than $75 million in gifts from the Li Ka Shing Canada Foundation and the Government of Alberta, has 37 principal investigators and 150 trainees and employees, and builds on virology and infrastructure with global connections to the US National Institutes of Health, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection and Research. Its founding director is Dr. Lorne Tyrrell, a specialist in viral hepatitis and a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Alberta.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to play a significant role in this collaboration between ContraVir and the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology,” Tyrrell said in a press release. “This is a perfect example of how industry, academia, as well as the public and private sectors can come together with a sharp focus and depth of expertise to create and understand novel ways to treat HBV and other viruses.”

ContraVir specializes in producing and manufacturing treatments for hepatitis B and currently has two drug candidates, CRV431 and TXL, under development.

“ContraVir is honored to work with Dr. Tyrrell, and his team at the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology,” James Sapirstein, ContraVir CEO, said in a written statement. “We are confident that this collaboration will further explore the mechanisms of action of CRV431 and TXL and give us a significant advantage in addressing the unmet medical needs that continue to burden HBV infected patients.”