Next&Bio Inc., a South Korea-based startup that has developed an organoid-based precision medicine drug discovery and development platform, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI Singapore) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) on the establishment of collaboration to realise the development of novel precision medicine therapeutics using cancer-organoids.

Under the MoU, CSI Singapore and Next&Bio will discuss opportunities to establish a joint cancer organoid laboratory, and to pursue joint projects. Under discussion will be the potential for Next&Bio to utilise their organoid culture technology to generate an organoid bank through collaborations with experts at CSI Singapore, which can be used for cancer patient-derived organoid-based research projects and developing patient-specific drug evaluation platforms using organoids.

The proposed joint cancer organoid laboratory would add to Next&Bio’s global network of organoid-based research collaborations aimed at developing organoid-based solutions for pressing research needs. The proposed collaboration with CSI Singapore will take advantage of the diverse ethnic backgrounds represented in Singapore to create an Asian hub for cancer organoid-based precision medicine.