Bionomics has entered into a research collaboration with the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine, to advance Bionomics' research and development programs in epilepsy and central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

"We are pleased to enter into this collaboration with the Howard Florey Institute," said Bionomics' CEO and Managing Director, Dr Deborah Rathjen. "The Howard Florey Institute is one of the world's leading neuroscience research institutes. Our collaboration complements our existing, valuable collaborations with leading epilepsy researchers at the University of Melbourne, the Women's and Children's Hospital and our ionX drug discovery and development platform for CNS disorders."

The collaboration with the Howard Florey Institute will advance the analysis of Bionomics' epilepsy gene discoveries. The collaboration will also support Bionomics' CNS drug discovery program which is the subject of the company's recent $2.872m R&D Start Grant funding.

The Howard Florey Institute is continuing to build its research excellence in neurosciences, most recently by appointing Dr Steve Petrou as a Senior Research Fellow, an outstanding scientist researching epilepsy and ion channels. Dr Petrou has been collaborating with Bionomics for some time and has recently been appointed Vice President, CNS Research, at Bionomics.

"The collaboration between Bionomics and the Howard Florey Institute represents the best of both worlds coming together," Dr Petrou said. "This collaboration creates the opportunity for a highly valuable synergy between leading academic research in neurosciences and Bionomics' globally competitive epilepsy and CNS research."

"The collaboration between Bionomics and the Howard Florey Institute is another example of an opportunity for the Howard Florey Institute to work together with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries to leverage its expertise in neuroscience towards the discovery and development of new drugs," said Professor Frederick Mendelsohn, Director of the Howard Florey Institute. "We look forward to a solid and successful collaboration with Bionomics Limited."