As part of the deal, the partners will share the costs and risks of discovery and development of new drugs as well as jointly own intellectual property and commercialization rights of the new products.
The deal will see HDB take lead compounds that have been discovered in Marshall University to continue the preclinical development, while the university is well versed in translational medicine, clinical trials and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines.
HD Biosciences president and CEO Xuehai Tan said the company is happy to establish this collaboration with Marshall University.
"This agreement marks a significant achievement for HDB on the efforts to build the company’s long-term growth potential, as well as a demonstration of the recognition by our partners to our expertise and capabilities in drug discovery and development," Tan said.
MIIR director Zijian Xie said getting new drugs from the research laboratory to clinical trials, where it is determined if the treatment is safe and effective for humans, is an expensive and time-consuming undertaking.
"Normally, it would take tens of millions of dollars and as long as a decade to translate the technology MIIR and the school of medicine have developed over the last several years into viable drug candidates," Xie said.
"This joint effort with HD Biosciences will significantly shorten the process because of their expertise in drug discovery, and ultimately will reduce the risk for all the partners.
"In short, this represents a bold approach that will not only advance MIIR’s mission of innovation, discovery, enterprise and advancement, but will also create new business opportunities and add value for all of us."