Local pharmaceutical companies are teaming up with biotech firms to utilize cutting-edge technologies such as liquid biopsy and deep learning to discover candidates for innovative medicines.
Boryung Pharmaceutical has been most active in joining hands with the biotech industry.
On Tuesday, the company agreed with Quantum Intelligence, an AI-using new drug developer, for joint research. The deal came just four days after Boryung and IMBDx decided to collaborate on treatment development using IMBDx’s liquid biopsy technology for cancer diagnosis.
In June, Boryung also built a partnership with Pharminogen, a novel drug developer using deep learning.
Boryung plans to use IMBCX’s technology to develop customized treatments and companion diagnosis technology. Quantum Intelligence’s platform using quantum mechanics will help Boryung find new drug candidates and pipelines, the drugmaker said.
JW Pharmaceutical also inked a deal with bio-venture firm Voronoi to join forces on STAT3 Protein Degrader Joint Research to work on a next-generation anticancer drug.
In the joint research, the two companies plan to apply Voronoi's original Protein Degradation (PROTAC) technology to JW Pharmaceutical’s STAT3-targeted small molecule anticancer drug candidate.
PROTAC is a new drug development platform technology based on a low-molecular compound that induces protein degradation. It might overcome the existing targeted therapy’s limitation of not controlling a particular protein or developing resistance in the long-term medication, industry officials said.
The joint research is JW Pharmaceutical’s strategic open innovation program to secure next-generation pipelines first.
“We are actively looking for new research cooperation models and promising projects. By doing so, we are securing a follow-up R&D pipeline using new platforms at home and abroad,” an official at JW Pharmaceutical said.
STAT3 is a protein that promotes the expression of many genes involved in cancer cell’s growth, proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance formation.
JW Pharmaceutical is conducting non-clinical trials and drug production research on STAT3 targeted therapy, intending to start a phase-1 clinical trial in 2023.
SK Holdings, the holding entity of SK Biopharmaceuticals, and the U.S. biopharmaceutical firm Roivant Sciences agreed on Dec. 6 to jointly invest in and research new drugs.
SK Holdings will invest $200 million in a targeted protein degradation platform, which could yield outstanding efficacy compared to conventional medicines without any issue of drug resistance, the company said. Such a new drug could improve the treatment of intractable diseases significantly.
Roivant Sciences is using deep learning to develop targeted protein degradation drugs against six diseases.
SK said the latest partnership would help the company begin a trial on a new protein degradation drug next year.