miRagen Secures Exclusive License to In Vivo Applications of t2cure’s miR-92 IP

Firm will initially evaluate miRNA as a target for ischemic and vascular disorders.

miRagen Therapeutics negotiated an exclusive license to in vivo applications of t2cure’s miRNA 92 (miR-92) IP, which the latter acquired from the University of Frankfurt. miR-92 is a regulator of neoangiogenesis in ischemic disease. Under terms of the deal t2cure retains the right to use modulators of miR-92 for ex vivo-based cellular therapies.

miRagen will initially investigate the function of the miR-92a member of the miR-92 family as a target in ischemic disease and vascular disorders including atherosclerosis. The firm says in the near term it will carry out preclinical evaluation of miR-92a in ischemic cardiac injury. “This collaboration also contributes to our current program of using miR-92a in vitro for the pretreatment of stem cells, which has the potential to lead to future patent-protected regenerative therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases,” comments Petra Rueck, Ph.D., t2cure CEO.

miRagen was established in 2007 to develop miRNA-based therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular and muscle disease. The firm’s preclinical pipeline includes candidates for the treatment of chronic heart failure and post-myocardial infarction remodeling. Additional candidates at the lead-optimization or target-validation stage are in development against blood and vascular/cardiovascular disorders, muscular atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and fibrosis.

German firm t2cure is focused on developing bone marrow progenitor cell-based regenerative therapies for cardiac or peripheral vascular diseases. Its lead autologous bone marrow-derived somatic cell therapy product, t2c001, is poised to start in Phase III trials for the treatment of acute myocardial infarction, and additional Phase II-stage bone marrow cell products are in development for the potential treatment of chronic heart disease, dilated cardiomyopathy, and peripheral artery disease.

In June t2cure reported that t2c001 had become the first product ever to obtain a certificate under European Medicines Agency regulations for advanced therapy medicinal products.