Bionomics touts new mouse model, posts loss

A mouse model for inherited epilepsy has been created by Adelaide company Bionomics by 'knocking-in' the human mutation. The model exhibits seizures similar to human epileptic seizures.

CEO Dr Deborah Rathjen hailed the model as "a very exciting and very important scientific breakthrough" by Dr Steven Petrou and his team at the University of Melbourne.

The company made the announcement this morning, ahead of a statement to the ASX detailing a loss of nearly $3.5 million over the last financial year. Rathjen said the loss was in line with company expectations and said Bionomics still had enough cash in reserve - $8.6 million - to last two years.

Petrou, who leads the biophysics group at Bionomics and is also a research fellow at the Melbourne Uni's Department of Physiology, said that the knock-in mouse was an important tool which would validate the role of genes discovered by the Bionomics epilepsy program in causing epilepsy.

Rathjen said that the company would be using the mouse model in a range of approaches, including examination of various stimuli to induce seizures and evaluation of current epilepsy drugs as well as new compounds.

The company would also be developing other 'knock-in' mice based on the other genes discovered in the epilepsy program, she said. Bionomics and its collaborators in Melbourne and Adelaide have so far identified more than 180 variations in 17 ion channel genes that are associated with epilepsy.

"We have a production line that we'll be rolling out over the next 12 months or so," Rathjen said. "It's one of the pillars of our IonX drug discovery platform."

The IonX platform may also be applicable to other CNS disorders, Rathjen said, which would increase the market size considerably. While epilepsy has an estimated global market size of $US5 billion, the market for CNS therapeutics exceeds $US50 billion.

'Strong position'

Bionomics' end of year results for 2001-02 showed an operating loss of $3.49 million and a net cash outflow for the year of $1.2 million. But according to Rathjen, the company remains in a strong position with $8.6 million in cash.

"At the current cash burn rate, this provides the company with funding for at least two years," she said. "Our financial results were very much in line with what we expected."

Rathjen said that the company would continue to focus on achieving its research and commercial milestones while keeping tight control on costs.

Over the last 12 months, the company has formed commercial partnerships with Johnson & Johnson, GenMab and Hybrigen. According to Rathjen, the company would continue to focus on developing global partnerships.

The company has also significantly expanded its patent portfolio on all projects this year, and has built up its in-house operations, moving into a new facility in Adelaide's Thebarton precinct in March.

"We've got a terrific gene discovery engine and that's clearly going to be the driver of our growth," Rathjen said.

At the time of writing, Bionomics' share price had risen more than 8 per cent to 65 cents.