South Korean pharmaceutical company Dong-A ST said Friday that it has entered into a joint research agreement with AstraZeneca to develop new innovative immuno-oncology drug candidates.

Under the agreement -- which was signed during the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Thursday -- the two drugmkers will collaborate on three oncology research projects under the lead of AstraZeneca. Details of the projects were not revealed, due to contract stipulations.

AstraZeneca and Dong-A ST will jointly own any intellectual property that comes from the collaboration, with each side eligible to acquire exclusive rights to the findings at a later stage after negotiations, they said.

“This collaboration will allow AstraZeneca and Dong-A ST to combine expertise and generate and progress compounds that target mutual points of interest in the most efficient way,” said Susan Galbraith, head of AstraZeneca’s IMED oncology unit.

“We anticipate great synergy between Dong-A ST with its R&D Capability and AstraZeneca with its expertise in developing anti-cancer drugs,” said Yoon Tae-young, head of research at Dong-A ST.

Based in Seoul, Dong-A ST is one of several Korean drugmakers that headed to this year’s JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in search of new partnerships and opportunities to promote their business portfolios to global investors.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)