Bionomics Limited and Southern Cross University announced today that they had established a collaboration to discover new drugs targeting epilepsy and anxiety.
Under the arrangement, Southern Cross University will provide Bionomics with extracts from its collection of Australian-based natural products, together with expertise in natural products chemistry.
Bionomics will screen these natural products for activity against biological targets associated with epilepsy and anxiety and utilize Southern Cross University's natural products library and chemistry expertise to support its drug discovery program. "Bionomics is pleased to build out its network of drug discovery collaborators with Southern Cross University," stated Dr. Deborah Rathjen, CEO and Managing Director of Bionomics. "Our collaboration with Southern Cross University provides Bionomics with access to a unique collection of Australian-based natural products and broadens the opportunity to discover new drugs for epilepsy and anxiety utilizing our ionX(R) drug discovery platform." Assoc. Prof. David Leach, Director of Science, Centre for Phytochemistry & Pharmacology at SCU said, "There have been a number of successful outcomes from utilizing natural products to discover new drugs for a range of treatments. Our focus is uniquely Australian, with an objective of unlocking the therapeutic potential of medicinal plants from international sources as well as endemic Australian native plants. We are pleased to be applying this approach with a well-established Australian biotech company such as Bionomics, with a common view to discovering powerful new drugs for epilepsy and anxiety." Bionomics announced a similar collaboration with the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). Dr. Rathjen stated that the new collaboration with Southern Cross University complements the collaboration with WEHI and widens the Company's ability to identify potential new drugs for the treatment of epilepsy and anxiety in its drug discovery program.