WEHI contributes to Kv1.3 program

Research conducted at Australia's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute has contributed significantly to a licensing agreement signed between Australian biotechnology company Bionomics and German pharmaceutical firm Merck Serono.

Under the terms of the deal, Merck Serono will seek to develop new treatments for multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune conditions. These prospective treatments will be based on compounds from Bionomics' Kv program, which WEHI had a fundamental role in developing.

The program began when WEHI's Jonathan Baell and collaborators discovered that certain derivatives of a natural product called khellinone could block a potassium channel called Kv1.3. This potassium channel selectively inhibits autoreactive T cells, such as those that attack the myelin sheath in people with MS.