AstraZeneca to establish cancer research program with Korea’s HIDI

Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the South Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) to establish an oncology research program. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Under the program, AstraZeneca will provide support for 12 early-stage translational research projects by Korean investigators in the field of oncology – an area of high unmet medical need in Korea. Cancer is a serious disease that is growing rapidly and is the number one cause of death in Korea, where the total number of cancer sufferers almost doubled, to over 218,000 patients, between 2001 and 2011. Through this program, AstraZeneca and the KHIDI aim to contribute to the development of new treatments for Korean cancer patients.

Under the M0U, AstraZeneca in collaboration with the government-funded KHIDI, will invite early-stage research project applications from oncology investigators based at research hospitals across the country. Proposed topics should be focused on oncology translational research, with pre-proposals submitted via the KHIDI web site ( www.khidi.or.kr) by April 15, 2014.