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Matinas BioPharma

Matinas BioPharma is an American biopharmaceutical company based in Bedminster, New Jersey.

History

On January 10, 2019, Matinas announced it had entered an agreement with an undisclosed pharmaceutical company to “evaluate synergistic effects of Matinas’ lipid-nano-crystal (“LNC”) platform delivery technology with their partner’s nucleic acid polymer technology.”[1] CEO Jerome Jabbour said that the collaboration would “provide solutions for companies developing innovative nucleic acid polymers, small molecule drugs, vaccines, proteins and potentially even gene-editing technologies.”

COVID-19

In November 2020, Matinas received a $3.75 million award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.[2]

In December 2020, Matinas announced a collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to evaluate oral formulations of Gilead Sciences’s antiviral drug remdesivir in its potential treatment against COVID-19.

On April 11, 2022, Matinas and BioNTech announced a research collaboration “to evaluate a novel delivery technology for mRNA-based vaccines.”[3]

In January 2023, Matinas and National Resilience “entered into a Material Transfer and Evaluation Agreement focused on exploring the potential for oral delivery of identified nucleic acids.”[4] In early 2023, the company sought funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), and continued into its third project with Genentech.

Gilead Sciences announced it had ended its partnership with Matinas in January 2023 in order to pursue its own remdesivir “pro-drug.”[5]

Activities

Matinas is running clinical trials for MAT2203, a cryptococcal meningitis treatment, led by principal investigators David Boulware and David Meya.[6]

Organization

Name Position Notes
Jerry Jabbour Co-founder and CEO[7] -
Abdel Fawzy Co-founder and Executive VP[8] -

Investors

SternAegis invested in Matinas in May 2013.[9]

  1. Matinas BioPharma Holdings. (2019, January 10). Matinas BioPharma Announces a Research Evaluation with Top Global Pharma Company Based on Its Proprietary Drug Delivery Platform. GlobeNewswire News Room. https://web.archive.org/web/20230509042135/https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/01/10/1686096/32419/en/Matinas-BioPharma-Announces-a-Research-Evaluation-with-Top-Global-Pharma-Company-Based-on-Its-Proprietary-Drug-Delivery-Platform.html ↩︎

  2. LNC Platform. Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.05.09-041901/https://www.matinasbiopharma.com/lnc-technology/lnc-platform ↩︎

  3. Zacks Equity Research. (2022, April 12). Matinas (MTNB) Up on Deal With BioNTech for mRNA Vaccines. Nasdaq. https://web.archive.org/web/20220412202120/https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/matinas-mtnb-up-on-deal-with-biontech-for-mrna-vaccines ↩︎

  4. Bhargava, A. (2023, January 23). Matinas BioPharma Provides Business Update and 2023 Strategic Outlook. Matinas BioPharma Holdings, Inc. http://archive.today/2023.01.31-021839/https://www.matinasbiopharma.com/investors/news-events/press-releases/detail/439/matinas-biopharma-provides-business-update-and-2023 ↩︎

  5. Block, J. (2023, January 31). Gilead abandons oral version of COVID drug remdesivir with Matinas Biopharma (NYSE:MTNB). Seeking Alpha. https://web.archive.org/web/20230518231633/https://seekingalpha.com/news/3930004-gilead-abandons-oral-version-of-covid-drug-remdesivir-with-matinas-biopharma ↩︎

  6. Matinas BioPharma Nanotechnologies, Inc., & University of Minnesota. (2022, September 15). Encochleated Oral Amphotericin for Cryptococcal Meningitis Trial 3. ClinicalTrials.gov. https://web.archive.org/web/20230509041731/https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05541107 ↩︎

  7. Jerry Jabbour, Matinas BioPharma Holdings inc: Profile and Biography. Bloomberg. Retrieved May 18, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.05.18-225130/https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/18631011 ↩︎

  8. Abdel A. Fawzy, Ph.d. | Matinas Biopharma | United States of America. OMICS International. Retrieved May 18, 2023, from http://archive.today/2023.05.18-225547/https://biography.omicsonline.org/united-states-of-america/matinas-biopharma/abdel-a-fawzy-phd-1369145 ↩︎

  9. Venture Round - MATINAS BIOPHARMA - 2013-05-17 - Crunchbase Funding Round Profile. Crunchbase. Retrieved May 18, 2023, from https://www.crunchbase.com/funding_round/matinas-biopharma-series-unknown--c2ad135e ↩︎