New epilepsy patent for Bionomics

Adelaide epilepsy specialist Bionomics (ASX:BNO) has announced that its patent covering a link between the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor ion channel subunit and epilepsy has been accepted in New Zealand.

The patent application will be officially granted at the conclusion of a four-month period, if no oppositions are filed. “New Zealand was seen as a litmus test for us. [We were asking whether] we could have these very broad claims accepted and the answer was yes,” said Dr Deborah Rathjen, CEO and Managing Director of Bionomics.

“[This] is the first of [Bionomics’] patents with very broad cover, and it was the first of the patents I became involved in as CEO,” she said.

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit has been associated with a form of inherited epilepsy known as autosomal dominant nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy (ADNFLE).

“ADNFLE affects a fairly small proportion of epilepsy patients,” said Rathjen. “It is a form of partial epilepsy which is notoriously difficult to treat, and [patients suffering DNFLE are amongst] the 30 per cent of patients who can’t get control of their seizures using medication.”

The accepted patent application extends to any gene variations the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor ion channel subunit that give rise to epilepsy. It also covers Bionomics' future ionX(R)-driven drug discovery programs targeting the receptor, animal models currently under development and diagnostic applications.

“In the patent application we make claims to cell lines expressing the specific mutations, and also for compounds that would be effective against those genetic changes,” said Rathjen. “[This work will be taking place] within the next 12 to 18 months. That’s the third aspect to the Bionbomics’ drug discovery pipeline: GABA-A and then sodium-channel, and then the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.”

The work was done at Bionomics under research service agreements with the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the Epilepsy Research Institute at the Austin Hospital.

Rathjen said the patent was currently undergoing examination in Australia, Europe, the US and Asia, and that further acceptances were expected over the next 12 to 24 months. When granted, the patent will be the first in Bionomics' intellectual property portfolio granted outside of Australia. Bionomics presently has a total of 57 patents and patent applications under progress in key pharmaceutical markets, covering over 600 genes, drug screening methods and diagnostic methods.

The nicotinic acetylcholine receptors are also of interest in Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Rathjen said pharmaceutical giants Abbot and Aventis already have programs focused around the receptor and its subunits.