Mirina, a privately held biotechnology company focused on the generation of novel microRNA therapeutics with improved properties, has closed a series A-1 financing.
The round was led by new investor Versant Ventures.
Previous investors Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Arch Venture Partners, OVP Venture Partners and WRF Capital also participated in the round.
In conjunction with this financing, Brian Atwood, managing director of Versant Ventures, will join the board of directors.
Mirina was founded in August 2008 by Accelerator, a privately held, venture capital-backed biotechnology investment and development company.
“We appreciate the strong support of our existing investors and welcome Versant Ventures to the Mirina syndicate,” says David McElligott, vice president of research at Mirina. “We’re very pleased our team at Mirina has successfully executed on its milestones over the past 20 months and has generated an impressive amount of promising data. This additional investment will allow the company to aggressively pursue moving candidates toward clinical development.”
“The Mirina team has made exceptional technical progress on its strategy of translating the potential of microRNA into therapeutic products, an important new wave of technology that will impact diseases ranging from infection to inflammation and cancer,” says Atwood. “Versant is very pleased to be joining the Accelerator investors in this round of financing of Mirina.”
Micro RNA is a newly appreciated class of small RNA molecules that regulate the expression of a larger number of human genes. Many of the genes regulated by miRNA are pivotal in normal and pathological processes. Modulation of miRNA function therefore offers a new pathway for developing drugs for serious conditions such as cancer, inflammation, fibrosis, and degenerative diseases.
