Regulus Therapeutics to Present microRNA Platform and Pipeline Updates at Two Leading Scientific Conferences
-New Pre-clinical Data to be Presented on Proprietary Therapeutic Programs in Metabolic Disease and Cancer at Keystone Symposium and AACR Special Conference
PR NewswirePress Release: Regulus Therapeutics Inc. – 1 hour 13 minutes ago
LA JOLLA, Calif. , Jan. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Regulus Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company leading the discovery and development of innovative medicines targeting microRNAs, today announced that data from its proprietary lead program targeting microRNA-33a/b (miR-33a/b), currently in preclinical development for the treatment of atherosclerosis, will be presented at the Keystone Symposium "Nucleic Acid Therapeutics: From Base Pairs to Bedsides" held Jan. 10–15, 2012, in Santa Fe, New Mexico . In addition, information from its preclinical oncology programs will be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research's (AACR) Noncoding RNAs and Cancer workshop held Jan. 8-11, 2012 , in Miami, Florida .
"We are pleased to present data about our proprietary microRNA programs in metabolic disease and oncology at the Keystone Symposium and AACR Special Conference respectively," said Neil W. Gibson , Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Regulus Therapeutics. "Our scientists have made significant progress discovering potent and safe therapeutic oligonucleotide anti-miRs. We look forward to selecting clinical candidates this year for the advancement of multiple microRNA therapeutic programs into the clinic."
Keystone Symposium: A Regulus scientist will present that targeting miR-33a/b is a promising therapeutic strategy for atherosclerosis and other aspects of the metabolic syndrome in an oral presentation titled "Targeting miR-33 for Atherosclerosis" at 8 a.m. MST on January 14 . miR-33a and miR-33b are found in the introns of SREBF2 and SREBF1 transcription factors, respectively, and work in concert with their host genes to regulate cholesterol and fatty acid synthesis. miR-33a/b target the cellular cholesterol efflux transporter ABCA1 as well as key regulators of fatty acid oxidation and insulin signaling, suggesting that inhibition of miR-33a/b could have therapeutic benefit in atherosclerosis and other aspects of the metabolic syndrome, including hepatosteatosis and insulin resistance. Studies in mice showed that antagonizing miR-33a enhanced reverse cholesterol transport, promoted regression of atherosclerosis by increasing ABCA1 in the liver and peripheral macrophages, and raised plasma HDL cholesterol. Importantly, these findings have now been translated to non-human primates, demonstrating that systemic delivery of an anti-miR-33a/b oligonucleotide increased hepatic expression of ABCA1, induced a sustained increase in circulating HDL cholesterol and decreased plasma triglycerides.
AACR Special Conference: A Regulus scientist will present data demonstrating that microRNAs are dysregulated in cancer and are drivers of disease pathogenesis in an oral presentation titled "Anti-miR Therapeutics for Cancer" at 10:15 a.m. EST on January 11 . Regulus' oncology programs include targeting microRNA-21 (miR-21), which has been shown to be overexpressed in many cancer types promoting tumor progression and metastasis. Regulus data has demonstrated that miR-21 is up-regulated in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and, in preclinical models of HCC, treatment with anti-miR-21 reduces tumor formation resulting in significant survival benefit. Other efforts in oncology include the discovery of microRNA therapeutics for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an orphan and rare disease with limited treatment options, performed in collaboration with Samsung Medical Center and ABC2, a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating therapies for brain cancer patients.
Regulus is advancing multiple microRNA therapeutic programs to the clinic in the areas of fibrosis, HCV infection, immuno-inflammatory disease, metabolic disease, and oncology.
surf's up......crikey
