Next-Generation Ion Channel Screening - Isis Project No 4184

Isis is seeking a commercial partner to build a next-generation ion channel screening instrument and consumables offering based on a new Oxford technology.

The Technology enables:

• Screening of any membrane protein including voltage-gated & ligand-gated ion channels
• Screening of any membrane including sub-cellular membranes & organelle membranes
• Analysis of primary cell samples
• Eliminates traditional assay development challenges – no need for membrane protein over-expression or maintenance of cell lines
• High quality data; comparable to manual patch-clamp results; with true giga-ohm seals
• Exceptionally high-throughput for fluorescent assays (>1M data points per assay); medium-throughput for electrical assays

This is an opportunity to secure the lead in the electrophysiology instrumentation market. The ideal commercial partner would be:

• An instrument company with an established presence in the electrophysiology market, looking to secure the lead with a next-generation technology; or
• An instrument company looking for a route into the membrane protein screening market with a competitive technology

Prototyping & Validation Underway

We have received excellent feedback about this technology from pharmaceutical companies and CROs, and will be commencing research collaborations with several organisations in Spring 2010.  Customer feedback has been instrumental in the further development of this technology and Isis has recently been successful in raising significant investment to support the development of a prototype screening device. The prototype will enable demonstration of the throughput, quality and reproducibility required for the practical use of this technology in drug discovery.

Membrane Proteins: The Ideal Target

Proteins embedded in or associated with mammalian cell membranes have an important role in controlling the interaction of a cell with its environment. It is perhaps not surprising then that many drugs (>60% FDA-approved drugs) achieve their therapeutic effect by modifying the behaviour of membrane proteins. Despite this prevalence, membrane proteins remain one of the most challenging classes of biological molecules to study. Leading academic and industry researchers agree that the absence of suitable screening tools represents a major barrier for future drug discovery. Dr Kim Dekermendjian, a senior research scientist at AstraZeneca, makes the example that “ion channels are totally underexploited [as drug targets] and this is because historically it has been so difficult to screen them in a rational way.”¹ New technologies are urgently needed to address this challenge.

Patent Status

This technology is the subject of an international patent application. Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity that this represents.

Reference(s)

¹ Pearson, S., “Investigating & Focusing on Ion Channels as Drug Targets” Genetic Engineering & Biotech News (2009, Vol.29, No. 11.)

Request Further Information: Project Number 4184 - Next-Generation Ion Channel Screening