SK Chemicals and NextGen Bioscience Sign MOU for Joint New Drug Development

SK Chemicals is strengthening its competitiveness in new drug development through open innovation.

On December 26, SK Chemicals announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with NextGen Bioscience to enhance cooperation in discovering new drug projects and conducting joint research and development.

This agreement was pursued to combine the new drug development capabilities of both companies, jointly discover new drug candidates, and expand research collaboration, particularly in disease areas where current treatment options are insufficient.

A researcher at SK Chemicals is reviewing the research analysis results of new drug development. SK Chemicals

Through this agreement, the two companies will collaborate on a wide range of new drug research and development activities, including: jointly identifying new drug projects, jointly conducting research tasks, sharing research facilities and equipment, and exchanging research personnel, technology, and information.

Founded in 2018, NextGen Bioscience is a biotechnology company that has been developing new drugs for autoimmune and fibrotic diseases. The company is recognized for its ability to rapidly identify drug candidates by leveraging its proprietary new drug development platform, Fibrain™, which utilizes AI technology and an in-house chemical library.

Fibrain is an integrated new drug development system that organically links AI-based drug modeling, new compound synthesis, screening, and both preclinical and clinical development functions. Based on this platform, the company is researching multiple new drug pipelines, including those for alopecia areata, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, and wet age-related macular degeneration. Recently, some of its autoimmune and fibrotic disease treatment projects under development have achieved visible research results, such as being selected as national research projects or entering the clinical stage.

SK Chemicals is conducting research on new drug pipelines in various disease areas, including oncology and fibrotic diseases, and has accumulated experience in development and regulatory approval from the preclinical to clinical stages through multiple new drug development achievements. In addition, based on its open innovation strategy, the company is expanding its early-stage new drug pipeline through collaboration with external specialized companies.

With this agreement, the two companies plan to explore the potential for collaboration throughout the entire new drug development process, from the initial candidate discovery stage to preclinical and clinical development, and to identify new joint research projects to be pursued step by step.

Lee Bongyong, CEO of NextGen Bioscience, said, "We expect that the lead compounds secured at the early stage can be rapidly advanced to the development phase through cooperation with SK Chemicals," adding, "With this agreement, we will create a collaborative model that leads to tangible development outcomes."

Park Hyunsun, Head of Pharma Business at SK Chemicals, said, "Open innovation is one of the key strategies for quickly securing the capabilities needed for new drug development through collaboration with external companies that have expertise in their respective fields," and added, "We will continue to strengthen SK Chemicals' new drug portfolio by expanding collaboration with various companies, including NextGen Bioscience."