Bionomics licenses two epilepsy diagnostics to LabCorp

Bionomics (ASX:BNO) has licensed two genetic tests for the diagnosis of epilepsy to US giant Laboratory Corporation of America.

"We are getting upfront fees as well as royalties, and in comparison to industry standards for this type of deal, the deal we have been able to negotiate I would call excellent," said Bionomics' VP of business development, Alex Szabo.

The tests licensed to LabCorp will assist physicians to distinguish and properly treat a variety of seizure disorders that occur in infants and young children. Bionomics will receive upfront fees and royalties on the sale of the tests by LabCorp.

The first test is for a condition known as severe myoclonic epilepsy of infancy, which Bionomics said was a "catastrophic" epilepsy with a high mortality rate and association with mental retardation. Accurate diagnosis is important as some standard drugs for epilepsy may actually aggravate seizures in SMEI patients.

The second test, for the so-called benign familial seizures panel, is based on the identification of mutations in three different genes that are associated with seizures. It may be useful in diagnosis for many children under one year of age who experience seizures without fever.

"In 2004-05 we had commercial income of more than AUD$1.2 million, up from $68,000 in 2003-20," Szabo said. "A significant contribution to that was the first SMEI diagnostic test -- this is our third licensee for the SMEI and the first for our BFSP test.

"We are very optimistic about the ongoing revenue streams we expect to derive from these tests -- the market for these tests has been estimated at roughly US$120 million in the US alone.

"Over the past year Bionomics has really turned into becoming a fully-fledged drug development company, and although this deal will provide a revenue steam and return to investors, we anticipate the greatest opportunities for the future will be from our drug development activities, in which have made significant progress over the few couple of months in particular."

Bionomics said LabCorp had annual sales of more than US$3 billion in 2004, and was the second largest provider of diagnostic services in the US. Through its national network of 33 clinical laboratories and 1300 patient service centres, LabCorp provides clinical testing services to more than 220,000 physicians, government agencies, managed care organisations, hospitals, clinical labs, and pharmaceutical companies.

NZ patent

Meanwhile, Bionomics has been granted a patent in New Zealand for a series of compounds that have shown promise as potential new treatments for cancer. The company is currently developing the compounds as vascular targeting agents (which act by starving tumours of the blood flow they require to grow) for the treatment of solid tumours.

The granted patent was originally licensed to Iliad Chemicals, which was acquired by Bionomics in July this year, by the Australian National University and the US government.

Bionomics has also identified six lead candidate compounds through its vascular targeting program and further testing required for the selection of a nominated clinical candidate is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2006.