October 27, 2015 07:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mirna Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MIRN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a broad pipeline of microRNA-based oncology therapeutics, announced the appointment of Dr. Miguel Barbosa, Ph.D. as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer.
"We are pleased to welcome Miguel to the role of Chief Scientific Officer"
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Dr. Barbosa has joined the Company with 20 years of biopharmaceutical research discovery experience. For the past decade, he served in senior leadership roles at several Johnson & Johnson subsidiaries. Most recently, Dr. Barbosa was Executive in Residence, Therapeutic Innovation at Johnson & Johnson Innovation, where he led the identification and development of new R&D and business models. Prior to that, he was Vice President, Immunology Research & External Innovation, at Janssen Research & Development L.L.C., also a J&J company, where he led immunology discovery and translational research programs. Earlier in his career, he served as Vice President, Discovery Research, at J&J's Centocor Research & Development, Inc.
"We are pleased to welcome Miguel to the role of Chief Scientific Officer," said Paul Lammers, M.D., M.Sc., Mirna's President and Chief Executive Officer. "As a highly accomplished industry executive with a proven ability to lead top research and development programs, we are confident Miguel's expertise and strategic vision, particularly in emerging areas of science, will prove critical as we advance our pipeline of microRNA-based oncology therapeutics."
Dr. Barbosa received a B.S. in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completed his training at the National Cancer Institute.
About Mirna Therapeutics, Inc.
Mirna is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a broad pipeline of microRNA-based oncology therapeutics and is the first to establish clinical proof-of-concept for a microRNA replacement therapy for cancer. Mirna's lead product candidate, MRX34, a mimic of naturally occurring microRNA-34 (miR-34), is currently being studied in a Phase 1 clinical trial in patients with primary liver cancer, advanced solid tumors and hematological malignancies. miR-34 is one of the most widely published microRNAs and is considered a key regulator of multiple oncogenes across key oncogenic pathways, with the capacity to regulate more than 30 different oncogenes and repress the immune checkpoint signaling molecule PD-L1. The potential capacity to simultaneously affect multiple pathways and processes that are critical to cancer cell viability may make mimics of tumor suppressor microRNAs potent anti-cancer agents and less susceptible to drug resistance. Mirna plans to develop MRX34 as a monotherapy and in combination with other therapeutic modalities, such as targeted therapies and immuno-oncology agents. The company was founded in 2007 and is located in Austin, Texas.
For more information, visit www.mirnarx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
To the extent that statements contained in this press release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding Mirna, they are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding the contributions of our Chief Scientific Officer. Such forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our clinical development program, future results, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the clinical drug development process, including the outcomes of clinical trials, the regulatory approval process, our substantial dependence on MRX34, our commercialization plans and efforts and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of our product candidates. Mirna undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to our business in general, see our final prospectus filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 1, 2015.
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