On December 16, 2021, Metrion Biosciences Limited, the specialist ion channel contract research and drug discovery company, and Bioqube Ventures, a specialist European life sciences investment firm, announced that they have entered into a collaboration, backed by Bioqube Factory Fund I, to incubate a drug discovery research project targeting autoimmune diseases. Under terms of the collaboration, Bioqube and Metrion will advance a lead series of previously identified highly potent and selective small molecule inhibitors of the human Kv1.3 potassium ion channel to enable further development. Activation of this voltage-gated ion channel in effector memory T-cells is thought to be an early and necessary step in the development of auto-immune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, lupus nephritis, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, and many others. The lead candidate(s) will then be progressed for further development and human clinical trials.