Metrion Biosciences awarded £200,000 Innovate UK funding

Award scheme funding will help Granta Park firm build drug discovery pipeline

Metrion Biosciences has been awarded £200,000 from Innovate UK to develop its drug discovery pipeline.

The Granta Park-based specialist ion channel contract research and drug discovery company was awarded the money to enable further preclinical work on a portfolio of small molecule potassium inhibitors acquired from Japan Tobacco.

The money, from Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst Feasibility Award scheme, will help it deliver a best-in-class oral treatment for a range of autoimmune diseases.

Metrion’s chief scientific officer, Dr Marc Rogers, said: “We are pleased to receive this support, which recognises Metrion’s contribution to R&D and drug discovery in the UK. Our team has extensive experience in the field of potassium ion channel drug discovery, having been responsible for discovery and development of three novel potassium channel therapeutics for the treatment of cardiac atrial fibrillation.”

The project is the first of a series of potassium channel inhibitor programmes, designed to deliver proof of concept data on candidates for treatment of autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.