A technology that manipulates microRNAs (miRNAs) developed by Jingfang Ju, PhD, a biochemist and Professor in the Department of Pathology at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, and colleagues has shown promise when used as anti-cancer therapeutic. The technology has been licensed to Curamir Therapeutics Inc.,
Research leading to the development of the miRNA drug platform was funded in part by grants from the Long Island Bioscience Hub, led by the Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University, under the National Institutes of Health REACH program, as well as the National Cancer Institute.
An incubated company financed by Delos Capital, Curamir will begin developing these drugs for testing with an initial $10 million in financing from Delos Capital. The company was co-founded by Dr. Ju and Dr. James Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA structure; and Dr. Lan Bo Chen, Professor Emeritus of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Academician of the Academia Sinica of Taiwan.