The internationally-renowned translational research institute seeks partnerships with Korean Academic centers for the 2011 Drug Discovery Collaboration Program.

April 06, 2011, Seoul, S. Korea ? The Institut Pasteur Korea (IP-K) today called for proposals on a new drug discovery program that aims to commercialize Korean basic research. Called the 2011 Drug Discovery Collaboration Program, the venture presents an opportunity to Korean Academia in the Life Science sector to play an active role in the discovery and development of new small molecule drugs. Professors and researchers who are working on innovative phenotypic cell-based assays for human disease and who are based in national, public, governmental and private research institutes are encouraged to apply. The closing date for applications is April 29, 2011.

Commenting on the program, Ulf Nehrbass, CEO of IP-K, said that “I am excited about partnering with leading life science researchers in Korean academia. IP-K has developed sophisticated drug screening and development technologies and we will provide the technology, skills and know-how necessary to help translate strong basic research into commercial applicability.”
The goal of the program is to discover, identify and develop new small molecular drugs. Applications to the program will undergo a formal selection process by a committee of experts from both IP-K and Korean Pharma. The successful applicants will be offered a formal research collaboration agreement with IP-K. This collaboration will adapt researchers’ cell-based assays to high content and high throughput screening platforms at IP-K in order to search for hit compounds. These compounds will be prioritized for further drug discovery and development.

“IP-K is anticipating first in class and best in class compounds from this collaboration,” says Lisa Cechetto, Head of Business Development at IP-K. “The end goal is to out-license preclinical compounds to Korean Pharma. Intellectual property rights generated from these collaborations will be shared by both parties”.


About the 2011 Drug Discovery Collaboration Program
The application form can be downloaded from IP-K’s website: www.ip-korea.org ? News & Events ? Events
The deadline for submission is April 29, 2011. Applications can be submitted online or via post.
Online submissions should be sent to: ddcall2011@ip-korea.org.
Postal applications should be sent to: 696 Sampyeong-dong, Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, Korea(463-400).
Following review, select applicants will be invited to make an oral presentation on their submitted project before the selection committee. These applicants will be notified by May 27, 2011. Please note that only selected applicants will be contacted.
Final selection will be announced on June 30 2011.
For further information or inquiries please contact: Business Development, Institut Pasteur Korea. Tel. (031) 8018-8031, ddcall2011@ip-korea.org