Dalazatide is a 37-amino acid synthetic peptide, a derivative of ShK, which was originally isolated from the venom of the Carribean Sea Anemone. The drug was first discovered by the University of California at Irvine and further developed by Kineta and KPI Therapeutics. Dazalatide is a specific inhibitor of the voltage-gated Kv1.3 potassium channel. The Kv1.3 potassium channel is highly upregulated on effector memory T-cells (TEM cells), and is involved in regulating their calcium uptake. Chronically activated memory T cells are key mediators of numerous autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis and multiple sclerosis. In vivo studies with dalazatide in a delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) model have shown that drug treatment inhibited the DTH response by suppressing TEM cells, but had no effect on naïve or central memory T cells. Dalazatide was investigated in a phase I clinical trials for the treatment of plaque psoriasis. The study indicates that dalazatide is generally well tolerated and can improve psoriatic skin lesions by modulating T cell surface and activation marker expression and inhibiting mediators of inflammation in the blood.