Korea United Pharm and UNS Bio said Friday that they had signed a memorandum of understanding with Y-Biologics to develop new antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) anticancer drugs.

Through this agreement, the three companies will conduct joint research on developing new ADC anticancer drugs and present a new collaboration model for innovative drug development by combining their specialized expertise.

Korea United Pharm will develop toxic small molecule drugs optimized for ADCs. The company, which specializes in developing new and improved drugs, will develop payloads with optimized drug effects and produce ADCs, as it has various source technologies and patented formulation technologies, according to Korea United Pharm.

UNS Bio, an anticancer drug research company jointly established by Korea United Pharma and Seoul National University Technology Holdings, will develop and win approval for ADC products, while Y-Biologics, an antibody-drug development platform company, will develop antibodies that target ADCs.

Through the three-way partnership, these companies expect to enhance their research capabilities for new drug development and efficiently manage the time and cost of new drug development.

Korea United Pharm CEO Kang Won-ho, who doubles as the CEO of UNS Bio, and Y-Biologics Co-CEOs Park Young-woo Jang Woo-ick attended the signing ceremony on Thursday.

"We are pleased to collaborate with a company with the best technology in the field of antibody-drug research and development," Korea United Pharm CEO Kang said. "Through the signing of this memorandum of understanding, we will fully utilize the strengths of each company to accelerate the development of innovative new anticancer drugs."