Childhood epilepsy test

Bionomics has presented the results of a 239 patient clinical study of childhood epilepsy. The University of Melbourne's Associate Professor Ingrid Scheffer presented the results to an invited symposium on epilepsy research.

The researchers conducting the study highlighted the need for accurate diagnosis as many standard treatments for epilepsy may exacerbate the severe seizures in children with severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy (SMEI). Early and accurate diagnosis will enable doctors to implement appropriate treatment strategies.

The researchers concluded that a genetic test to determine genetic mutations, such as Bionomics' SMEI diagnostic test, should be considered in cases of children with severe seizures beginning in the first year of life and normal MRI scans.

Bionomics has licensed its SMEI diagnostic test to US-based Athena Diagnostics for commercialisation in North America and Japan and to the Melbourne-based Genetic Technologies Limited for worldwide distribution.