Santaris and miRagen in strategic alliance to develop microRNA-targeted medicines for cardiovascular disease

24 June 2010

Two developers of RNA-based therapeutics, Denmark-headquartered Santaris Pharma A/S and the USA's miRagen Therapeutics, have formed a strategic alliance to develop microRNA-targeted medicines for the treatment of cardiovascular disease.

miRagen is planning to develop and commercialize single-stranded LNA-based product candidates intended for the treatment of cardiovascular disease by utilizing Santaris' proprietary Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) Drug Platform. Under the terms of the agreement, Santaris received a minority equity interest in miRagen, and is eligible to receive milestone payments and royalties upon achievement of certain development and regulatory milestones. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

Growing interest in microRNA sector

The news comes just a couple of days after French drug major Sanofi-Aventis announced a $750 million licensing deal with US company Regulus Therapeutics to make an entry into the microRNA sector (The Pharma Letter June 23), thus confirming significant interest in this area of research.

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