SK Chemicals said on the 26th that it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Nextgen Bioscience to strengthen cooperation on discovering new drug projects and joint research and development.
The agreement was pursued to combine the two companies' new drug development capabilities to jointly discover new drug candidates, focusing on disease areas with insufficient treatment options, and to expand research collaboration.
The two companies plan to collaborate across new drug research and development, including: ▲ joint identification of new drug projects ▲ joint execution of joint research projects ▲ joint use of research facilities and equipment ▲ exchanges of research personnel, technology, and information.
Founded in 2018, Nextgen Bioscience is a biotech company that has developed new drugs for autoimmune diseases and fibrotic diseases. Based on its proprietary new drug development platform "Fibrain™," it is assessed to have the capability to rapidly identify candidates by using artificial intelligence (AI) technology and a chemical library.
Fibrain is an integrated new drug development system that organically links everything from AI-based drug modeling to new compound synthesis, screening, and nonclinical and clinical development, and based on this, it is researching multiple pipelines such as alopecia areata, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and wet age-related macular degeneration. Recently, some treatments for autoimmune diseases and fibrosis have been selected as national research projects or have entered clinical stages, yielding results.
SK Chemicals is conducting new drug pipeline research in various areas, including oncology and fibrotic diseases, and has development experience from nonclinical to clinical and approval stages. Based on an open innovation strategy, it is continuously expanding its early-stage new drug pipeline through cooperation with external specialized corporations.
With this agreement as a starting point, the two companies will review the potential for cooperation across the entire new drug development process, from the initial candidate discovery stage to nonclinical and clinical development, and will identify new joint research projects to advance research step-by-step.
Lee Bong-yong, CEO of Nextgen Bioscience, said, "We expect to be able to swiftly transition lead compounds secured at the early stage into the development stage through cooperation with SK Chemicals," adding, "With this agreement, we will build a cooperation model that leads to tangible development outcomes."
Park Hyun-sun, head of the pharma business at SK Chemicals, said, "Open innovation is an important strategy to quickly secure the capabilities needed for new drug development," adding, "We will continue to strengthen SK Chemicals' new drug portfolio through collaboration with various corporations."