AstraZeneca Announces Innovative New Partnership With Singapore Institutions to Develop Anti-Cancer...( SINGAPORE Aug. 15 /- AstraZeneca ...),Health

SINGAPORE, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced an innovative new partnership with the National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) and the National University Hospital (NUH) to develop anti-cancer compounds. The collaboration, which is spelt out in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was signed today, aims to further build AstraZeneca's drug development capabilities in Asia and ultimately speed up access to new medicines of potential benefit to patients with inoperable Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC). HCC is a cancer that is particularly prevalent in Asia and accounts for approximately one million deaths annually worldwide.(1) Studies have also shown that more than 90 per cent of those afflicted with the cancer die within five years due to its inoperability.(1)

Dr. Brent Vose, Vice President of AstraZeneca's Oncology Therapeutic Area said: "AstraZeneca is committed to the research and development of new, targeted anti-cancer therapies in Asia to improve the lives of cancer patients, beginning with those affected by HCC. There is a huge unmet need for treatment of liver cancer in Asia, and particularly East Asia, where there are three-quarters of the world's HCC patients.(2) We have a number of promising candidates in development and look forward to seeing the results of some key studies throughout the next year."

Under the MOU, AstraZeneca and the Singapore institutions will be entering into a collaborative agreement that spans both clinical and pre-clinical development activities. The partnership also includes a Training Programme placement with the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, with whom AstraZeneca has a formal research alliance. Supported in part by the Singapore Economic Developm
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