MiReven gets extra $500k for microRNA cancer research

Start-up MiReven has received a $500,000 funding injection, after forging R&D partnerships and reaching internal milestones in efforts to develop cancer treatments based on a strain of microRNA.

MiReven was established in 2010 to commercialise work from the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) on the anti-cancer potential of the miR-7 microRNA.

The preliminary research indicates that miR-7 acts as a tumor suppressor through inhibition of the epidermal growth factor receptor. EGFR is strongly associated with cancer progression, resistance to chemotherapy and poor prognosis.

The company has now received an extra $500,000 investment from the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF). This brings the fund's total investment in MiReven up to $1.1 million.

The extra investment was made in recognition of MiReven's technical and commercial progress, including the forging of two international R&D collaborations to explore the efficacy of systematically delivered miR-7 in different cancer models.

The first collaboration, with Silence Therapeutics, will use miR-7 delivered via Silence's proprietary AtuPLEX and DACC delivery systems.

MiReven chairman Dr Stephen Thompson called the extra funding from the MRCF “pivotal” to the company's development and collaborative research activities.

“The deal with Silence Therapeutics is particularly important to us, as it is critically important to the development of microRNA drugs to find the right delivery method so that they can reach important cancer targets,” he said.

WAIMR's original miR-7 research was led by professor Peter Leedman and Dr Keith Giles.