RXi Pharmaceuticals Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi), has entered into a research collaboration with Mirna Therapeutics (Austin, TX), to determine the utility of combining RXi's proprietary rxRNA technology with Mirna's microRNA mimics as potential therapeutics in oncology. The parties will each contribute technology and resources to the collaboration to generate and evaluate novel microRNA compounds. Financial terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.

"RXi is focusing its proprietary rxRNA technology toward the discovery and development of therapeutics which target disease causing genes using the siRNA intrinsic cellular mechanism," said Noah D. Beerman, president and chief executive officer of RXi. "Within the field of RNAi, we believe our rxRNA molecules also have the potential of acting through the microRNA pathway. With Mirna's expertise in microRNA biology, we look forward to exploring this opportunity for the expanded utility of RXi's proprietary compounds in the relatively new, but promising and rapidly growing field of microRNA therapeutics."

microRNAs are naturally occurring small RNA molecules involved in numerous biological processes. Misregulation of microRNAs has been recently demonstrated to be associated with various human disorders, including cancer, cardiovascular, inflammation and metabolic diseases.

RXi Pharma is a discovery-stage biopharmaceutical company pursuing the development and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi) for the treatment of human diseases.

Mirna Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of microRNA (miRNA) therapeutics.