Shionogi taps Swedish partners for drug discovery effort
This article was originally published in Scrip
Shionogi has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Swedish government that is expected to lead to R&D collaborations with academic institutions and bioventure companies in the Scandinavian country.
The memorandum with the Invest Sweden agency under the ministry for foreign affairs aims to identify basic research and drug discovery technology of potential interest to the Japanese firm. Co-operative agreements for joint research and the exchange of personnel between Shionogi and Swedish universities, institutes and venture companies may then follow.
Shionogi's main research focus is on infectious diseases, pain and metabolic syndrome (a condition which includes diabetes and obesity), and through its science programme it is looking to tap into a variety of external sources of academic and other expertise.
The firm already has an initiative in Japan through which it solicits academic research proposals and then provides support to selected projects that are seen as leading to possible drug candidates.