Solasia Pharma K.K. and EditForce Inc. announced that the companies have entered into a joint R&D agreement to research and develop pharmaceutical drugs primarily in the field of oncology based on EditForce's DNA/RNA editing technology. Solasia and EditForce will design multiple projects (varying by the target disease, target gene sequence, and mechanism of action) based on RNA editing mainly in the oncology field, and through these projects, develop drugs utilizing the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) protein platform technology. EditForce will grant Solasia a non-exclusive right to the intellectual property of its core technology and an option to claim exclusive rights to use the above mentioned projects; Solasia in turn will make an upfront payment as well as milestone payments based on the development progress of each project to EditForce. Solasia will have the option to exercise its exclusive rights when the applicable projects reach the pre-clinical study phase. Solasia specializes in the development and commercialization of pharmaceuticals that address unmet medical needs primarily in the field of oncology. Solasia has already launched several drugs, and it is renowned for its clinical development capabilities. EditForce, on the other hand, is a startup company with a unique, proprietary DNA/RNA editing technology (PPR protein platform technology). Through collaborating with pharmaceutical companies, EditForce is working on R&D toward application of its technology in drug development. Drawing on each other's expertise, Solasia and EditForce will jointly design and carry out R&D of specific projects (varying by the target disease, target gene sequence, and mechanism of action) from the early R&D stage to clinical development. Through such joint efforts, the two companies agreed to work on enhancing each other's drug discovery pipeline and improving efficiency of the R&D process.