April 30, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Scrappy Austin, Texas-based startup Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. said Thursday that it has raked in a $41.8 million D round as investors agitate for a possible initial public offering and it attempts to bankroll its RNA treatment into Phase II trials next year.
It has been a while since the discovery-stage biopharmaceutical research and development company focused on miRNA-directed human oncology therapies has received funding of this type—its last round came via $34.5 million in Series C funds in 2013. But today’s booming biotech sector has had investors hunting for bargains wherever they can find them, especially in the white-hot area of immuno-oncology.
Backers this round included Baxter Ventures and new (and huge) participants like Celgene Corporation and Morningside. Existing investors also participated, including New Enterprise Associates, Pfizer Inc. , Sofinnova Ventures, Correlation Ventures and Osage University Partners.
Founded in 2007 Mirna has also received backing from the State of Texas, both through the State’s Emerging Technology Fund, and from CPRIT (Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas). It’s been part of Lonestar Bio’s booming climate climate and continues a trend statewide to dedicate resources to life sciences.
Mirna execs said Thursday that they will be using the money from backers to advance its lead microRNA (miRNA) therapeutic product candidate, MRX34, into Phase 1b and Phase 2 trials in 2016.
“This successful financing further demonstrates the enthusiasm of the investment community for the Mirna opportunity and is an important validation of the therapeutic potential of our differentiated microRNA Replacement Therapy approach,” said Paul Lammers, Mirna‘s president and chief executive officer. “We are excited to have the opportunity to expand our development program for MRX34 in multiple indications as well as push ahead with our next clinical candidate.”
Mirna‘s lead program, MRX34, is the first miRNA mimic drug candidate to advance into clinical testing. MRX34 is currently being studied in a Phase 1 clinical trial including patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, other solid tumors and hematological malignancies. The Phase 1 clinical trial is expected to enroll approximately 120 patients with data in 2015.
Mirna‘s patent portfolio currently has 12 issued U.S. patents that include cancer and non-cancer therapeutic use claims related to 17 tumor suppressor microRNAs. It also has more than 100 U.S. and foreign pending patent applications that it either owns or in-licenses from third parties.
“Mirna is the industry leader in microRNA Replacement Therapy and we are excited to have the opportunity to invest,” said Geeta Vemuri, vice president and head of Baxter Ventures. “The Company has generated very compelling preclinical and encouraging clinical data to date and has a strong pipeline of miRNA development candidates behind the lead program.”
