LifeArc, one of the UK’s leading medical research charities, has signed a deal to license an ion channel drug discovery programme to Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited.

Small molecules, optimised as part of the programme, are capable of affecting the sensitivity of neurons, show efficacy in treating pain and will undergo further pre-clinical development.

The licensing deal successfully concludes a research collaboration between LifeArc, Oxford University’s Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Daiichi Sankyo.

Under the terms of the deal Daiichi Sankyo acquires an exclusive worldwide license to a discovery stage programme of small molecules with the potential to develop into novel treatments for intractable pain.