Bionomics licenses epilepsy tests to LabCorp

By E. Janene Geiss

Philadelphia, Nov. 3 - Bionomics said Thursday that it has licensed two genetic tests for the diagnosis of epilepsy to Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings.

The tests licensed to LabCorp will assist physicians in distinguishing and properly treating a variety of seizure disorders that occur in infants and young children, according to a press release.

Under the terms of the license agreement, LabCorp will pay Bionomics an upfront fee on signing and royalty payments on net sales. Further details of the license agreement were not disclosed for commercial reasons, officials said.

The first test is for a condition known as Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy, 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 these patients, officials said.

The second test, called the 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 that experience seizures without fever, officials said.

LabCorp is the first licensee of the Benign Familial Seizures Panel test and the third licensee for the Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy test.

"We are very pleased that these two important diagnostic products will soon be made available through LabCorp's extensive network in the US. We are hopeful that their appropriate use by physicians will lead to improved care for infants with epilepsy," Dr. Deborah Rathjen, Bionomics' chief executive officer and managing director, said in the release.

"This is a medical advancement, as well as another significant commercial milestone for our company," Rathjen added.

Adelaide, Australia-based Bionomics leverages its proprietary platformsMultiCore, ionX and Angene to discover new treatments for central nervous system disorders.

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