£3m funding for new drugs to cut stroke risk
7 July 2009
Xention, a UK biopharmaceutical company that specialises in the discovery and development of ion-channel-modulating drugs, will receive up to £3 million over three years under the Trust's Seeding Drug Discovery initiative.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia and is more common in older people. It is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke, which is the second biggest cause of death in the UK after heart attacks.
Although a number of drugs and therapeutic approaches are used for the management of AF, each has significant side-effects and few are suitable for preventing the disease.
Using the Trust's funding, Xention will develop new drugs with the potential to selectively block IKACh, a potassium ion channel found only in the atria of the heart. Inhibiting IKACh is expected to maintain a regular heartbeat in people who have experienced atrial fibrillation.
"We are very pleased to have received this prestigious award," commented Tim Brears, Xention's Chief Executive. "We look forward to working with the Wellcome Trust over the coming years to develop new therapeutics in this area of substantial unmet medical need."
Image: A printout from an electrocardiogram (ECG) monitor, a device that measures the electrical activity of the heart. Credit: Wellcome Images.