Fast Forward, the commercial drug-development arm of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation have entered a partnership with Axxam to develop new treatments for multiple sclerosis (MS) and type 1 diabetes (T1D). Axxam will screen its chemical library to identify compounds that modulate Kv1.3 ion channel activities.
Recent studies have found that immune cells in MS and T1D contain high levels of the ion channel Kv1.3. Subsequently, the hyperactivity of this channel contributes to the dysfunction of the immune system in MS and T1D.