miRagen Therapeutics Inc.
This article was originally published in Start Up
Executive Summary
miRagen Therapeutics Inc. is developing microRNA-based therapeutics for treating cardiovascular and muscle disease. The company is farthest along with researching potential treatments for heart disease. It has advanced several candidates including the miR-15/195 family to improve cardiac remodeling that occurs in heart muscle following a heart attack, miR-208 and miR-499 to address heart failure, and miR-29 to treat cardiac fibrosis.
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Start-Up Previews (04/2010)
A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, "Despite Challenges, Congestive Heart Failure Draws A Crowd," features profiles of miRagen, NellOne Therapeutics, Phrixus Pharmaceuticals and Sorbent Therapeutics. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Ambicare, Anulex Technologies, NeoTract and Sistemic.
Phrixus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Phrixus Pharmaceuticals Inc. aims to repurpose a compound that may be able to boost the blood-pumping capacity of damaged hearts. Carmeseal was originally developed in the 1950s by BASF as a surfactant called poloxamer-188. If results seen in several animal cardiovascular models can be reproduced in humans, Phrixus’ compound could become an emergency room treatment for acute decompensated heart failure.
Despite Challenges, Congestive Heart Failure Draws A Crowd
Across the industry, cardiovascular R&D budgets are shrinking, and in some cases, practically disappearing. Some large companies are de-emphasizing the cardiovascular space, citing factors ranging from the size and high expense of clinical trials to the challenge of proving benefit when most experimental therapies are tested in tandem with current standards of care. Nonetheless, for those companies still willing to venture into the cardiovascular arena, congestive heart failure (CHF) offers a huge, lucrative indication to pursue. Several start-up firms are targeting CHF and related conditions by a variety of mechanisms, including polymer therapeutics, microRNA targeting and gene therapy. In this issue, we profile four such start-ups: miRagen Therapeutics, NellOne Therapeutics, Phrixus Pharmaceuticals and Sorbent Therapeutics.