Korea's SK Biopharmaceuticals and AriBio sign collaboration for glaucoma treatment

South Korean drugmaker SK Biopharmaceuticals and emerging Korean biotech AriBio have entered into a collaboration agreement for SK Biopharmaceuticals’ novel new small molecule SKL-G being developed for the treatment of glaucoma. Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed.

SK Biopharmaceuticals discovered this drug candidate and has evaluated its potential in animal models with AriBio since 2012. The animal experiments showed that SKL-G successfully prevented optic nerve cell death and lowered intraocular pressure, which is one of the major causes of glaucoma.

Christopher Gallen, chief executive and president of SK Biopharmaceuticals, said: “While focused on the disorders and mechanisms of the nervous system, the powerful SK Biopharmaceuticals Third Wave discovery platform creates compounds that are also relevant to diseases in other body systems, in this case, the eye. Through this agreement, both companies can realize a creative drug development process by sharing R&D capabilities, know-how, and experiences.”