Dongwoon Anatech Signs Main Contract for Joint Research with UCLA

[Financial News] Dongwoon Anatech has teamed up with the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to embark on a full-scale joint research for diagnostic solutions.
Dongwoon Anatech announced on the 21st that it signed a formal contract on the 18th (local time) with UCLA for the joint development of the 'EFIRM (Electric Field-Induced Release and Measurement)' platform for early cancer diagnosis and securing data for the global clinical trial approval of 'D-SaLife'.
The signing ceremony was attended by Kim Dong-chul, CEO of Dongwoon Anatech, and Lee Yeon-seung, head of the healthcare division, along with Amir Naiberg, Vice President and head of the Technology Development Group at UCLA, Thibault Renac, business development manager for the life sciences division, and Dr. David T.W. Wong, professor at the School of Dentistry.
Through this main contract, Dongwoon Anatech has formalized the partnership based on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed with UCLA's Technology Development Group and School of Dentistry last March. Since the MOU signing, both sides have traveled between the U.S. and Korea several times to enhance understanding of mutual research and development technologies and closely coordinate detailed contract terms.
The content of this contract mainly includes two aspects: the joint development of the EFIRM platform and securing data related to the D-SaLife clinical trial. First, they will jointly develop a saliva diagnostic platform that combines the EFIRM technology developed by Dr. David Wong's research team, who is the director of the UCLA Oral and Head and Neck Tumor Research Center and a professor at the School of Dentistry, with Dongwoon Anatech's semiconductor technology.
This platform is designed to non-invasively diagnose various cancers such as lung cancer, gastric cancer, and oral cancer, as well as autoimmune diseases at an early stage. Through a research sponsorship contract, Dongwoon Anatech plans to support Dr. David Wong's team with approximately $800,000 annually for three years, with the possibility of extending support for an additional two years depending on research outcomes.
Additionally, both companies will begin securing data for the global clinical trial approval of the saliva-based blood glucose monitoring system, D-SaLife. This is to secure analytical performance data to be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with local verification of D-SaLife's safety and efficacy.
Through this contract, by utilizing tens of thousands of saliva samples stored by the UCLA research team, they will be able to quickly secure clinical trial data encompassing diverse groups such as race, gender, and age, which is essential for entering the global market.
In particular, in multi-ethnic countries like the United States and Europe, clinical guidelines clearly require considering the race of test subjects due to the importance of clinical data diversity. In fact, a survey found that about 20% of products approved by the FDA since 2009 showed significant differences in efficacy or measurement results depending on race.
Dongwoon Anatech plans to optimize the D-SaLife clinical protocol by utilizing both the accumulated data and UCLA's multi-ethnic saliva samples. Subsequently, they will focus on the clinical validation of the EFIRM platform, which is designed to detect saliva biomarkers for various cancers.
Dr. David Wong stated, "This collaboration reflects the joint vision of both sides to enable faster, simpler, and globally accessible disease diagnosis," adding, "With the support of Dongwoon Anatech, we are one step closer to realizing the potential of EFIRM technology in actual clinical settings."
CEO Kim Dong-chul said, "Through the joint development of the EFIRM platform with UCLA, we aim to pioneer a new market that can diagnose various cancers and diseases early, beyond diabetes," and "Given that the tens of thousands of multi-ethnic saliva samples owned by UCLA are extremely rare and important assets, we will actively utilize them to ensure data acquisition for future global approval of D-SaLife."

butter@fnnews.com Kang Kyung-rae Reporter