Positive results from RXi's sd-rxRNA technology for development of novel therapeutics

RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a recognized leader in RNAi-based therapeutics, announced today that, as part of its collaboration with miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., positive data were generated demonstrating that RXi's sd-rxRNA™ technology can be used, in vitro, to specifically enhance the activity of a microRNA of high interest to miRagen.

The parties have successfully applied RXi's proprietary sd-rxRNA (self-delivering rxRNA) technology to create microRNA mimics, or artificial copies of microRNAs. In particular, they have demonstrated efficacy in down-regulating a reporter gene whose expression is controlled by the microRNA in cell culture model systems developed by miRagen. Increasing the level of particular microRNAs by using therapeutic mimics may treat certain diseases, including cardiovascular, cancer, inflammatory, fibrotic and metabolic disorders. This data will be presented in a poster at the upcoming Keystone Symposia's MicroRNAs and Non-Coding RNAs and Cancer meeting February 11-16, 2011 and will be available on RXi's website after the conference www.rxipharma.com.

"We are very pleased to have obtained positive results from our collaboration with miRagen, a scientific leader in the development of microRNA therapeutics," said Dmitry Samarsky, Ph.D., Vice President of Technology Development at RXi. "Demonstrating that RXi's sd-rxRNA technology can be applied successfully to convert conventional microRNA mimics into highly functional self-delivering molecules was one important goal of the collaboration and creates the potential to effectively leverage the company's platform for new and exciting uses in the development of novel therapeutics."

"microRNA therapeutics that mimic native sequences require special approaches for delivery," said William S. Marshall, Ph.D., President and CEO of miRagen Therapeutics. "We are excited that RXi's self-delivering technology demonstrates this compatibility with microRNA sequences from our portfolio."