SEOUL, South Korea and UPPSALA, Sweden, October 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

Dong-A ST Co., Ltd. (170900: Korea SE), the Korean pharmaceutical company, and Beactica AB, the Swedish fragment-based drug discovery company, today announced a new multi-year research and drug discovery collaboration and licensing agreement. Beactica and Dong-A ST will jointly develop novel anti-cancer drugs against certain disease-related oncology targets.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161025/432449 )

Under the terms of the agreement, Dong-A ST will gain exclusive global rights for the further development and commercialization of Beactica's small molecule inhibitors against multiple members of a family of epigenetic enzymes. The partnership will pool existing compound series from both companies and combine Beactica's unique early-stage lead generation capabilities with DONG-A ST's strengths in downstream pre-clinical and clinical development of new therapeutic agents.

Beactica will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible to receive research funding as well as potential milestone payments for certain research, preclinical, clinical and regulatory milestones. In addition, Beactica is eligible to receive royalties on commercial sales of the products resulting from the partnership. Beactica is also entitled to a revenue share from any related future licensing activities by Dong-A. Full financial details remain undisclosed.

"This global research collaboration between Dong-A ST and Beactica which specializes in developing novel drug targets marks a big step forward in development of next generation anti-cancer therapeutics" said Dr Soo-Hyoung Kang, President and CEO of Dong-A ST. "This collaboration and licensing of Beactica's small molecule inhibitors will greatly strengthen Dong-A ST's current oncology pipeline and will further enhance Dong-A ST's global competitiveness in the pharmaceutical industry."

"We've been impressed by Dong-A's commitment to benefiting cancer patients through therapeutics that modulate epigenetic pathways and are excited to initiate this collaboration." said Dr Per Källblad, CEO of Beactica. "This is a ground-breaking partnership in terms of structure, scope and the potential clinical impact of therapeutics created through our complementary capabilities."

Epigenetics is the study of physiological changes caused by altered gene expressions originating from inherited changes other than the DNA sequence itself. Cancer epigenetics is a rapidly emerging research area with potential to provide new treatments for patients by modifying DNA and chromatin, both of which play important roles in tumour development.

About Dong-A ST 

Dong-A ST Co., Ltd. specializes in the discovery, development, manufacture and markets pharmaceutical products and medical devices worldwide. The company offers various ethical drugs, including Stillen (Gastritis 2002); Zydena (Erectile dysfunction treatment, 2005); Motilitone (Functional dyspepsia, 2011); Suganon (DPP-4 inhibitor, 2016) as well as biologics and biosimilar products. Once-daily IV/oral Sivextro (Tedizolid, ABSSSI) was also developed by Dong-A ST which was approved by US FDA and launched in US (2014) and EU (2015) by global partner.

Dong-A ST has a strong oncology R&D division with immuno-oncology and epigenetic pipeline. Dong-A ST Co., Ltd. was founded in 1932 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It is listed on the Korean stock exchange. For more information, visit http://www.donga-st.com.

About Beactica 

Beactica AB is a specialist drug discovery company, utilising its proprietary methodologies to evaluate the interactions of molecules in order to generate novel therapeutics. As well as progressing its own drug discovery programmes, Beactica offers partnerships for fragment-based lead generation using its proprietary discovery platform. Founded in 2006 based on research carried out at Uppsala University, Beactica has established a reputation as the leader in fragment-based drug discovery using SPR biosensor technology. For more information, please visit http://www.beactica.com.

SOURCE Dong-A ST Co., Ltd and Beactica AB