Featured Technologies   View all Featured Technologies Novel Isoform of KCNH2 for the Treatment of Schizophrenia Description of Technology: Researchers at the NIH report the discovery and characterization of a novel isoform of the voltage-gated potassium channel KCNH2. This novel isoform is shown to control neurological firing and has implication as a genetic risk factor for schizophrenia. It is highly expressed in the hippocampus of schizophrenic patients and also in normal individuals who carry risk-associated alleles of KCNH2. This novel isoform may be a suitable target for drug development as is it minimally expressed in the heart with the potential to exert less adverse cardiovascular side-effects, which is often a consequence of currently available antipsychotic drugs. Available for licensing and commercial development are nucleic acids, polypeptides and antibodies specific for this novel isoform, as well as methods of screening for therapeutic agents and predicting susceptibility to schizophrenia. Applications: Potential new psychotherapeutic agent with less cardiac side-effects Potential drug screening assay for identifying new psychotherapeutic drugs Potential diagnostic tool for determining susceptibility of schizophrenia Market: Schizophrenia is among the most severe of the mental illnesses and has a lifetime prevalence of approximately 1% worldwide. More than 2,000,000 Americans have schizophrenia and it accounts for 2.5% of U.S. health care costs and 75% of expenditures for long-term mental health. Development Status: Early stage Inventors: Daniel R. Weinberger et al. (NIMH) Patent Status: DHHS Reference No. E-245-2006/0 -- U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/920,220 filed 26 Mar 2007 PCT Application No. PCT/US2008/057913 filed 21 Mar 2008 Licensing Status: Available for licensing Collaborative Research Opportunity: The NIMH Clinical Brain Disorders Branch is seeking statements of capability or interest from parties interested in collaborative research to further develop, evaluate, or commercialize potassium channel isoform associated with schizophrenia. Please contact Suzanne Winfield at 301-402-4324 / winfiels@mail.nih.gov for more information. Portfolio: Central Nervous System - Therapeutics, psychotherapeutics, antipsychotics For additional information, please contact: Charlene A. Sydnor, Ph.D. Office of Technology Transfer National Institutes of Health 6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325 Rockville MD 20852 Phone: 301/435-4689 Fax: 301/402-0220 Email: sydnorc@mail.nih.gov