Servier and Miragen to ally on cardiovascular disease research

Servier is entering into a new alliance with Miragen Therapeutics on the creation of innovative new therapies for cardiovascular disease.

The partnership agreement has been valued at $352 million (222.86 million pounds) and will focus on the research, development and commercialisation of microRNA therapy options.

A total of three compounds will be covered by the arrangement, including Miragen's lead programmes miR-208 and miR-15/195 plus one additional target, with Servier receiving global rights to the drugs outside of the US and Japan.

The agreement will see Miragen receive payments of up to $45 million in upfront, research support and near-term milestone payments over the next three years, with the deal said to be potentially worth as much as $1 billion.

Dr Emmanuel Canet, head of Servier research and development, said: "We are very pleased with this new partnership, which demonstrates once again our ability to explore truly innovative treatments for patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases."

This comes after Servier agreed an oncology-focused collaboration agreement with Hybrigenics earlier this month.