SK Chemicals said it would start joint research on innovative new drugs with Oncobix, a synthetic new drug developer.

Under the accord, Oncobix will derive new drug candidates and conduct synthesis research based on TOPFOMICS, its drug development platform. In addition, SK Chemicals will conduct general research necessary for commercialization, such as verification, development, and licensing of the derived candidate substances.

The two companies will conduct their first joint research project focusing on diseases for which there is no suitable treatment or for which there is unmet demand, such as fibrosis and cancer, and expand their cooperation gradually.

Oncobix’s TOPFOMICS is a platform that increases efficiency by finding a drug that effectively responds to a target disease based on the company’s compound library and implements an optimized material structure after feasibility evaluation and organic procedures.

Oncobix has derived a new lung cancer treatment candidate, OBX02-011, through this platform and is about to enter clinical trials. The company presented the non-clinical data of OBX02-011 in treating EGFR-activating mutations, double mutations, and triple mutations at the American Association for Cancer Research 2022 (AACR 2022).

SK Chemicals R&D Center Director Kim Jeong-hoon said:

Innovative new drugs are difficult to develop because there are no data on their safety and efficacy. Through open innovation, we will minimize uncertainty and risk in developing innovative new drugs and accelerate their development.

Oncobix CEO Kim Seong-eung said:

We will strive to secure innovative new drugs in various fields by combining our platform and SK Chemical’s development know-how.

SK Chemicals said it has promoted new drug development in partnership with big data researchers and AI specialists in its open innovation strategy. As part of its innovative project, the company conducts joint research on various tasks with AI partners, such as Standigm, Cimplrx, Deargen, inCerebro, and Dr. Noah.