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10th Anniversary of Animal Model for Hepatitis C
February 2011
KMT Hepatech, Inc. is a successful and profitable private biotechnology company spun off from the University of Alberta and located in Edmonton (Alberta, Canada).
For 10 years now, KMT Hepatech, Inc. has been offering in vivo research services to its customers and partners in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry who are in preclinical development of Hepatitis C (HCV) therapeutics and vaccines, utilizing its proprietary platform technology small animal model, the KMT MouseTM.
The company was incorporated in February 2001 and is named after Dr. Kneteman, Dr. Mercer and Dr. Tyrrell. Their groundbreaking research, published in Nature Medicine in 2001, demonstrated Hepatitis C virus replication in mice with a humanized liver. This publication, together with presentation of the chimeric mouse model to major pharmaceutical companies, generated significant attention to a small Canadian company.
KMT’s first major contract was signed with Chiron, followed by Wyeth and research agreements with several smaller companies. The HCV NS3 protease inhibitor BILN 2061 being developed by Boehringer Ingelheim was the first small molecule illustrating the positive predictive value of the KMT MouseTM. The model also appears valid for negative predictive value as demonstrated by parallel outcomes in the mouse model and clinical trials with the NS5B polymerase inhibitor HCV371. Further studies confirmed that the mouse model with a humanized liver generates responses that parallel those seen in humans during clinical trials. The results are published in two papers in the Hepatology (see Publications).
In 2006 KMT Hepatech made a significant advancement by becoming the only company worldwide contracted by the NIH to provide in vivo testing of antiviral agents for HCV.
KMT’s international IP portfolio includes coverage of the uPA chimeric mouse model of HCV infection and coverage on the uPA chimeric mouse for all potential applications including HBV, malaria and studies of toxicity, drug and lipoprotein metabolism.
In 2010 KMT Hepatech expanded its services and moved to new facilities in the National Institute for Nanotechnologies Innovation Centre, where the company rents over 2000 ft2 of fully serviced lab space and offices to compliment its animal facilities.
KMT’s future goals are to expand application of the platform technology to study additional pathogens (hepatitis B, malaria and potentially CMV), expand application of the chimeric mouse to other areas of therapeutics development such as hyperlipidemia and the study of drug metabolism, and accordingly expand worldwide IP coverage. We are constantly working to improve the scope of the KMT MouseTM and to enhance performance efficiency.
“We have grown in many ways since our start. We feel privileged to be providing this valuable service to our clients that will support the elimination of a life threatening disease that affects 170 million people,” said Dr. Norman Kneteman, President and CEO of the KMT Hepatech.