Regulus Therapeutics this week announced today that it has established a new research and development division that will focus on the identification of miRNAs as disease biomarkers.
Called Regulus microMarkers, the new unit will further develop Regulus' technology for extracting, profiling, and analyzing miRNAs, the company said.
“We believe that with our technical expertise and know-how, we can enhance early drug discovery and development processes by identifying microRNAs as biomarkers of disease and strengthening our therapeutic programs, and our collaborators’ and strategic partners’ programs," Regulus President and CEO Kleanthis Xanthopoulos said in a statement.
In 2012, Regulus partnered with Biogen Idec to discover miRNAs that could serve as biomarkers for multiple sclerosis. In November, Regulus announced that it had hit a key milestone in that alliance, profiling over 400 serum samples from MS patients and comparing them against samples from healthy volunteers.
Regulus also recently disclosed that it had struck a similar deal with an unnamed pharmaceutical firm for an undisclosed indication.