Joint-development of Innovative Drugs

C&C Research Laboratories CEO Chun Jae-kwang (far right) and A*STAR Executive Director Benjamin Sheet (far left) pose for a photo with other officials after signing the joint research agreement at the Genome Research Institute in Singapore on July 3 (local time).
C&C Research Laboratories CEO Chun Jae-kwang (far right) and A*STAR’s Biomedical Research Council Executive Director, Dr Benjamin Seet (far left) pose for a photo with other officials after signing the joint research agreement at A*STAR’s Genome Institute of Singapore on July 3 (local time).

JW Pharmaceutical Corp. is collaborating with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore's largest state-run research agency, to develop innovative drugs. It is the first contract a South Korean pharmaceutical company signed for joint research in the field of basic research with A*STAR.

C&C Research Laboratories Co., a joint venture between JW Pharmaceutical and Chugai Pharmaceutical in Japan, announced on July 4 that it has signed a joint research agreement with A*STAR to develop global novel drugs. A*STAR is Singapore's lead public sector agency that spearheads economic oriented research to advance scientific discovery and develop innovative technology.

Under the agreement, the two companies aim to discover numerous new drug candidates that can gain global market attention and develop them to clinical studies on human participants by 2020. They are planning to focus on anticancer drugs that target cancer stem cells and autoimmune disease drugs, including skin diseases like atopic dermatitis.

Four research institutes under A*STAR, such as the Skin Research Institute of Singapore (SRIS), Institute of Medical Biology (IMB), Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS), and Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), along with Singapore’s National Skin Center (NSC) will participate in the joint research project. These research institutes are planning to identify pharmacokinetic mechanisms of innovative new drug candidates developed by C&C Research Laboratories and discover clinical substances for commercialization within the collaboration period.

“This agreement is more meaningful because the Korea Bio-Venture Company has proposed a new global cooperation model that can create a synergy in the basic science sector through collaborative research with frontier research institutes from overseas public agencies. We will continuously strengthen our strategic alliance with A*STAR as well as jump into South Korea’s leading bio-venture in the field of immunology and anti-cancer drugs through our global open innovation strategy that diversifies networks with global leading research centers,” said Dr. Chun Jae-kwang, co-representative director of C&C Research Laboratories.

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