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Mirus Corporation Announces the Award of a $2 million ATP Grant to Develop siRNA Technology for Drug Discovery

Madison WI, June 10, 2002 - The Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) today announced 21 awards to U.S. companies potentially totaling $53.9 million in ATP funding matched by an industry cost-share of $40.6 million if carried through to completion. These 21 national awards were selected from hundreds of proposals submitted to the ATP s 2001 competition. Mirus Corporation (Madison, Wisconsin) received a $2 million three year grant to develop "Utilization of Small Interfering RNAs for Drug Target Validation In Vitro and In Vivo." As indicated by the small number of total projects funded, the ATP is one of the more prestigious federal funding programs going to companies working on novel, high risk technologies that have the potential to make fundamental improvements to society. Only a handful of Wisconsin companies have been awarded ATP grants in the past. Remarkably, this is the second time Mirus has been successful in attracting ATP funding. The Company also received a three year grant in 1999 to develop non-viral gene delivery technologies.

Mirus currently employs 45 people and is located in the University Research Park in Madison. Several additional scientific employee positions will be added to complete this project. The objective of the Mirus project funded by NIST is to significantly improve the efficiency of the existing drug discovery process. If successful, this work could result in a more rapid, and less expensive, drug development process. Secondary benefits flowing from this project will provide technologies with applications for clinical gene therapies and anti-biological weapons treatments.

Delivery of siRNAs, which are short double-stranded RNA molecules, results in the induction of a newly discovered and powerful genetic inhibitory pathway named RNA interference (RNAi). RNAi operates by efficiently and selectively degrading a target mRNA through the action of a ribonucleoprotein complex containing the siRNA and cellular proteins. Until recently, the use of RNAi has been limited to plants and lower eukaryotic organisms because the long, double-stranded RNA molecules used to induce RNAi in these organsims also induce the non-specific interferon response in mammalian cells. The discovery that short, synthetically prepared siRNAs themselves could be used to induce RNAi and bypass the interferon pathway has opened up the use of this gene inhibition mechanism in mammalian cells.

Dr. Jon Wolff, Mirus' CSO states; "The proposed studies will lead to major advances in the ability to efficiently deliver siRNA to cells in culture and in whole animals, thereby leading to breakthroughs in our ability to regulate gene expression for a range of applications that include target validation for drug discovery and medical therapeutics such as anti-infection agents. Delivery of siRNA is a major hurdle for the full promise of siRNA technology to be realized."

Founded in 1995 to commercialize discoveries made in the University of Wisconsin laboratory of Dr. Wolff, Mirus is best known for its pioneering work in the development of non-viral in vivo delivery technologies for genes and drugs. A clinical trial utilizing Mirus gene delivery methodologies is expected to initiate later in 2002. Mirus currently sells an extensive line of in vitro products for transfection, nucleic acid labeling, and siRNA research.

For more information, please see the product brief at ATP 2001 Competition (June 2002)

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