Celltrion said it has signed a joint research and development contract with LISCure Biosciences for a microbiome Parkinson's disease treatment candidate.

Under the accord, the two companies will jointly develop oral Parkinson's disease microbiome-based live biotherapeutic products.

Celltrion will provide research funds to LISCure Biosciences, depending on the development stage. Once Rescue Biosciences completes the initial development stage, Celltrion will be in charge of clinical trials and licensing.

LISCure Biosciences conducts research in the field of microbiome Parkinson's disease treatment and has an oral Parkinson's disease microbiome new drug pipeline (LB-P4).

The partnership follows Celltrion expanding its pipeline into the microbiome treatment area with high medical unmet needs.

In March of last year, Celltrion entered into a joint research and development contract with Ko Bio Labs to develop a microbiome-based treatment for irritable bowel syndrome and atopic dermatitis and began developing microbiome treatments in earnest.

"With this contract, the company has expanded its microbiome pipeline candidate to the treatment of Parkinson's disease, which has high medical unmet demand," a company official said. "We will continue open innovation with technologically proficient biotech companies and do our best to discover new pipelines."

According to GlobalData, a market research company, the global market for Parkinson's disease treatment is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 12.6 percent from $3.5 billion (4.55 trillion won) in 2019 to $11.5 billion (14.95 trillion won) in 2029.