C&C Research Institute, a joint venture between JW Pharmaceutical and Chugai Pharmaceutical, said Wednesday that it has signed a research agreement with Singapore’s Agency of Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).

C&C Research Institute CEO Chun Jae-kwang (far right) and A*STAR Executive Director Benjamin Sheet (third from right) sign the joint research agreement at the Genome Research Institute in Singapore Tuesday.

It is the first contract a Korean pharmaceutical company signed for joint research in the field of basic research with A*STAR. Various local drug companies had signed only a memorandum of understanding with the Singaporean agency.

The joint research project aims to develop innovative, internationally accepted drugs by 2020. Several research institutes under the A*STAR, such as the Singapore Skin Research Institute (SRIS), Genome Research Institute (GIS), Immunological Network (IMB) and the National Skin Center (NSC), plan to participate in the project.

C&C and A*STAR plan to focus on anticancer drugs that target stem cells and autoimmune disease drugs, including skin troubles. C&C will be providing the drug candidates involved in the research.

The Korean company plans to identify the biomarkers and pharmacokinetic mechanisms more clearly through A*STAR’s cutting-edge research facilities and interdisciplinary clinical research models, and expect to discover clinical substances for commercialization within the collaboration period.

“There is still a high demand for immune diseases and anticancer drugs,” Benjamin Sheet, executive director of A*STAR, said. “We are confident that cooperation with C&C will play a significant role in contributing to the improvement of human health and quality of life.”

C&C Research Institute also expressed its expectations.

“It is often necessary to acquire core technologies or merge with competitors, to gain a competitive advantage in the field of new drug research, however, in the long term research into basic science field is most important,” CEO Chun Jae-kwang said.

This agreement is meaningful in that a Korean bio-venture company has proposed a new global cooperation model that can create synergy through joint research with overseas government’s core research institutes, he added.

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