RXi Pharmaceuticals, miRagen Therapeutics enter into research collaboration

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation (Nasdaq: RXII), a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi), and miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by developing innovative microRNA (miRNA)-based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease, announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration. Under this agreement, the parties will evaluate the potential utility of RXi's proprietary rxRNA™ technology against specific miRNA targets of interest to miRagen in the cardiac and neuromuscular disease areas. Each party will contribute its technology and resources to the collaboration to generate novel miRNA compounds. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

“miRagen is committed to evaluating and deploying the most advanced technologies available to support our mission of developing microRNA-based therapeutics”

"miRNAs, which are natural RNAi triggers, have been recently implicated in a variety of human diseases, including cancer, inflammation, as well as metabolic and cardiovascular disorders," said Noah Beerman, President and Chief Executive Officer of RXi. "We look forward to working with miRagen in exploring the potential of validating our proprietary rxRNA compounds in the field of miRNA, as success with this approach may allow us to expand the utility of RXi's therapeutic platform, as well as the commercial scope of product opportunities."

"miRagen is committed to evaluating and deploying the most advanced technologies available to support our mission of developing microRNA-based therapeutics," said William S. Marshall, Ph.D., President and CEO of miRagen Therapeutics. "We are enthusiastic about the potential for the rxRNA technology to produce miRNA mimicry and thus are keenly interested in working with RXi to further investigate its properties."