Woojung Bio said it would open the nation’s first privately-led cluster for new drug development late in September.
The company recently teamed up with Ahn Hae-young, CEO of Ahn Bio Consulting, who previously worked as division deputy director at the FDA.
The collaboration raised anticipation for a successful makeup of the cluster.
On Thursday, Woojung Bio said it signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ahn Bio Consulting for cooperation in new drug development and establishing an organic collaboration system.
Ahn founded Ahn Bio Consulting, which provides consulting on all stages of new drug development licensing.
Ahn said many pharmaceutical and venture firms work on new drugs to win FDA approval, but they often lack stage-by-stage strategies to respond to the FDA regulations.
Ahn Bio Consulting aims to meet such needs to help Korean companies develop globally competitive new medicines.
Woojung Bio’s partnership with Ahn Bio Consulting is part of the company’s plan to form the privately-led cluster for new drug development.
Woojung Bio has been actively searching for partners. On Aug. 26, it signed an agreement with MediRama, clinical development and research organization (CDRO), for new drug development projects and cooperation.
In May, the company signed an MOU with the Center for Non-Clinical Development at Asan Medical Center.
Woojung Bio has clinched MOUs with 28 companies or institutions since 2019. They include biotech industry groups such as Korea Biotechnology Industry Organization and Korea Drug Research Association and venture capital firms, including Dayli Partners, Spring Camp, and Samho Green Investment, and research institutes such as Institut Pasteur Korea and Foundation for Medical Innovation.
Woojung Bio plans to provide research infrastructures such as animal laboratories and analysis centers but patent, legal, technology trading, and investment-related services for biotech companies through the new drug cluster.
The company has completed preparations for a clinical trial consulting service, too.
Woojung Bio will finish the construction of the cluster building at the end of this month.
The company said the privately-led cluster would better deal with biotech companies’ strengths and weaknesses and promote quick and flexible cooperation with them, compared to a government-led cluster.
“Woojung Bio is benchmarking Charles River Laboratories, a global CRO that provides total solutions for drug development in the U.S., and WuXi AppTec Group, a global CRO in China,” an official at Woojung Bio said.
Woojung Bio aims to become a global CRO in the future, he went on to say. The official added that although the company is outsourcing some services, including drug discovery, it will ultimately become a new drug development total solution provider.