Ring Therapeutics is calling on Singaporean research agencies to dial into a new collaboration to develop gene therapies for eye diseases and cancer.
Massachusetts-based Ring is teaming up with the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the country’s largest public R&D agency, the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR), the Flagship-founded company announced in a Nov. 5 release.
“Through engaging a global ecosystem of R&D experts, these partnerships will further expand the potential of our Anellogy platform and aim to accelerate the clinical translation of our AnelloVector therapeutics,” Ring CEO Tuyen Ong, M.D., said in the release.
Ring’s Anellogy platform uses a group of viruses called anelloviruses to deliver gene therapies to cells. Anelloviruses are small and abundant but don’t seem to cause any diseases in humans.
The goal of the partnership is to develop new gene therapies for eye diseases and cancer while also improving the methods to produce these treatments, according to the release.
Singapore’s biotech market is projected to grow by 8% yearly, according to U.S. government estimates, and was worth $823.5 billion in 2021.
Ring isn’t alone in making moves in the Southeast Asian city-state. In September 2023, Johnson & Johnson signed a pact with the Singapore Economic Development Board to assist early-stage Singaporean companies in developing new medicines.
And in the summer, Pfizer expanded its active pharmaceutical ingredient plant in the country with a $743 million facility covering 429,000 square feet.