miRagen Therapeutics’ Director of Biology to Give Plenary Lecture at Center for Heart Failure Research Symposium in Oslo, Norway

Talk to Highlight Compelling New Data Supporting antimiR-208 as a Potential Therapy for Heart Disease

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients’ lives by developing innovative microRNA (miRNA)-based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease, announced that its Director of Biology, Eva van Rooij, Ph.D., will give a plenary lecture today at the 8^th Annual Center for Heart Failure Research Symposium in Oslo, Norway. Dr. van Rooij’s talk, titled “Oligonucleotide-based modulation of microRNAs to control cardiovascular disease,” will review the basis for the development of a modified short nucleic acid sequence targeting microRNA-208 (antimiR-208) as a strategy for intervention in heart disease and introduce compelling new data supporting its potential as a therapeutic agent. Data to be highlighted include antimiR-208 in hypertensive rodent models of heart failure and preliminary dose ranging and toxicology analysis in non-human primates.

“Oligonucleotide-based modulation of microRNAs to control cardiovascular disease”

“These most recent results further validate our therapeutic development approach,” said William S. Marshall, Ph.D., President and CEO of miRagen Therapeutics. “They deepen our understanding of the biological mechanisms controlled by microRNAs that contribute to the progression of heart failure and strongly suggest that targeting miR-208 may be an efficacious therapeutic strategy to combat this debilitating disease.”

About microRNAs: MicroRNAs have emerged as an important class of small RNAs encoded in the genome. They act to control the expression of sets of genes and entire pathways and are thus thought of as master regulators of gene expression. Recent studies have demonstrated that microRNAs are associated with many disease processes. Because they are single molecular entities that dictate the expression of fundamental regulatory pathways, microRNAs represent potential drug targets for controlling many biologic and disease processes.

About miRagen Therapeutics: miRagen Therapeutics, Inc., was founded in 2007 to develop innovative microRNA-based therapeutics for cardiovascular and muscle disease. Only recently discovered, microRNAs are short, single-stranded RNA molecules encoded in the genome that regulate gene expression and play a vital role in influencing cardiovascular and muscle disease. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death globally and represents an enormous burden on global healthcare systems. Principally funded through venture capital investments, miRagen combines world recognized leadership in cardiovascular medicine with unprecedented in-house expertise in microRNA biology and chemistry. For more information, please visit www.miragentherapeutics.com.