Merlion Pharma and ICES sign R&D partnership to boost Singapore's biotechnology industry
The Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, signed a research collaboration agreement with MerLion Pharmaceuticals Pte Ltd to synthesise and develop novel molecules, based upon naturally derived compounds, for anti-tumour drug therapies.
Under the terms of the agreement, ICES will design and synthesise compounds based on natural product leads for possible use as anti-tumour agents in humans. New compounds generated in ICES can be further modified and optimised in MerLion.
The principle discovery methodology of many modern drugs focuses on the drug's interaction with specific proteins in the body. Many cancer inducing pathways consist of a series of interactions between such complex molecules. Naturally occurring compounds, which are produced by organisms such as microbes (bacteria, or fungi) or plants, have an ability to specifically interfere with such highly complex interactions. This makes them therefore an ideal starting point for the design of new pharmaceutical substances. There is a recognition across the industry that natural products represent a crucial strategy for the modulation of such protein: protein interactions.
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