Editor’s Note
Aekyung Industrial and Dongseong Pharmaceutical have signed an MOU with Fudan University’s Zhangjiang Research Institute to collaborate on dermatology and beauty R&D, aiming to leverage academic expertise for joint innovation.
Aekyung Industrial (affiliated with Taekwang Group) and Dongseong Pharmaceutical announced on the 28th that they have signed a ‘Strategic Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)’ with the Zhangjiang Research Institute of Fudan University, a leading research university in China, for collaborative research and development in dermatology and beauty.
This agreement was pursued to leverage the Zhangjiang Research Institute’s scientific research capabilities, clinical and research networks, and promotional marketing expertise to establish an industry-academia-research cooperation base in China.
Aekyung Industrial, Dongseong Pharmaceutical, and the Zhangjiang Research Institute will collaborate in the following areas:
– Joint research on skin, scalp, and hair science
– Research on skin and scalp data by country, region, and ethnicity
– Development of new raw materials, ingredients, formulations, and delivery technologies
– Clinical trials, human application tests, and efficacy and safety evaluations
– Establishment of AI-based skin and scalp databases and analysis platforms
– Research on hair loss and hair dyeing
– Publication, patent applications, technology transfer, and commercialization of research outcomes
– Market entry and regulatory approvals in China and global markets
Aekyung Industrial, Dongseong Pharmaceutical, and the Zhangjiang Research Institute will also explore the possibility of joint R&D and production facilities, as well as the establishment of joint ventures and investment projects. The specific roles, costs, research outcomes, intellectual property rights, and commercialization conditions for individual collaborative projects will be detailed in separate future agreements.
Taekwang Group, which includes Aekyung Industrial and Dongseong Pharmaceutical as affiliates, plans to support the smooth operation of the cooperation framework, including identifying new collaborative projects, facilitating discussions between parties, and reviewing business structures. Depending on the nature of the collaborative projects, other affiliates of Taekwang Group, as well as domestic and international universities, hospitals, and research institutions, may also participate.
To enhance the sustainability and execution of the collaboration, the parties are considering forming a joint steering committee with co-chairs from Korea and China. A working-level consultative body will discuss research and business tasks, role allocation, schedules, and budgets in detail. The MOU is valid for five years from the date of signing.
Fudan University, founded in 1905 and based in Shanghai, is a member of the ‘C9 League,’ an alliance of China’s top prestigious universities. Its affiliated Huashan Hospital’s dermatology department is a leading authority in dermatology, consistently ranked first in Chinese dermatology evaluations. The Zhangjiang Research Institute, established by Fudan University in the Shanghai Zhangjiang Science Park, serves as an industry-academia-research hub, connecting the university’s research outcomes to technology transfer, entrepreneurship, and commercialization.
The institutions plan to gradually build a collaborative framework spanning from basic research and data construction to raw material and formulation development, clinical evaluation, productization, and global market entry. The combination of the Zhangjiang Research Institute’s industry-academia-research collaboration system and technology commercialization capabilities with the research and product development expertise of Aekyung Industrial and Dongseong Pharmaceutical is expected to create synergies.