ICAgen Patents Ion Channel Drugs

The U.S. Patent Trademark Office has issued four patents to ICAgen (Research Triangle Park, NC) for its potassium ion channel technology. The broad patents, titled "Inward Rectifier, G-protein activated, mammalian potassium KGA Channels," cover nucleic acids, degenerative sequences, amino acids comprising the gene products, host cell expression systems, homomultimers and heteromultimers of the Kir3 gene family, and all uses of these molecular ion channel targets.

"These molecular targets determine effects of many types of receptors such as the ACH receptor in the heart and certain serotonin and dopamine receptors in the brain," said Dr. Greg Rigdon, director of new product development at ICAgen. This capability is key to the control of heart rate and nerve function. Drugs designed to modulate these channels should be useful in treating heart disease, pain, migraine, schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease."

The patents (U.S. 5,747,278, U.S. 5,734,021, U.S. 5,728,535, and U.S. 5,744,324) are based on G-protein activated inward rectifier potassium channels, which were exclusively licensed to ICAgen in 1994 by the California Institute of Technology from the laboratories of Dr. Henry A. Lester and Dr. Norman Davidson, where these potassium channels were first cloned. ICAgen's license covers the channels and all uses of the channels, which have therapeutic, screening and diagnostic potential.

Ion channels are cellular membrane proteins that regulate the flow of ions such as potassium and chloride into and out of cells. Compounds that can increase or decrease this flow of ions by selectively blocking or opening specific channels should be beneficial in treating a wide variety of diseases. ICAgen uses novel ion channels, robust assay technologies and gene family chemistry libraries to discover drug candidates rapidly and cost effectively. The company's technologies allow the testing of thousands of compounds on multiple targets, rapidly obtaining data on potency and target selectivity.

Edited by Beth Brindle

For more information: P. Kay Wagoner, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of ICAgen, Tel: 919-941-5206.