SHANGHAI - BioBay, a biotechnology company at Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) in Jiangsu province, will launch a research collaboration project by joining hands with Roche and Harvard University to develop new therapeutics for cancer.

This incubator project, Roche's first one in Asia in the wake of two in US Boston and Israeli Tel Aviv respective, will initially focus on the development of inhibitors of autophagy for cancer treatment, said Dan Zabrowski, executive vice president of Roche and also global head of Roche Partnering.

"Additional projects may follow, but they will depend on the research result," Zabrowski said.

The three parties have signed an agreement at SIP, a result of more than one year's effort made by Roche and BioBay to choose and compare candidates globally.

"It indicates Roche's long commitment to helping push forward China's biomedicinal industry," he said.

Under the terms of the agreement, Harvard scientists will bring a research project focusing on a new therapeutic approach, BioBay will contribute expertise in medicinal chemistry and preclinical development, and Roche will provide access to its drug discovery, development and commercialization capabilities, said Liu Yuwen, chief executive officer of BioBay.

"This initiative is ideally timed and strategically significant for the direction that the Chinese Government has laid out for the biomedical industry," said Liu.

"Working with respected collaborators as Roche and Harvard University, we are confident that their knowledge will surely result in viable innovation, sustainable growth, and importantly, new treatment options for patients in China and worldwide."

Her words were echoed by Zabrowski, who said the collaboration is the right mix to create new possibilities for innovation. It combines the world's best academic and technological expertise with Roche's technology and capabilities to ensure the best chance of delivering therapies that change the practice of medicine globally.

The project will be implemented by the newly-established Nimbus Innoworks, a joint venture between BioBay and Wen Associates. It will bring cutting-edge innovative technology and products to China, said Jin Kewen, managing partner of Nimbus Innoworks.

Jin said BioBay, Roche and Nimbus Innoworks will co-invest in the incubator project, but he didn't tell the specific sum.

His company plans to operate the project by the end of this year after it completes its work to find senior researchers and outsource research resources.

Michal Preminger, executive director of Harvard University Technology Development Office, said the university took 10 years to get the findings with millions of US dollars spent.

Zabrowski said the contribution of the three parties brings together a unique set of tools to explore autophagy-related mechanisms and to develop compounds discovered by Harvard.

Autophagy or self-eating is a new mechanism allowing cells to respond to changing environmental conditions, such as nutrient deprivation. It is used by cancer cells as a survival mechanism and thus its inhibition holds the promise to limit tumor growth and treat cancer.

"Targeting autophagy is a new and promising avenue toward potentially enhancing the welfare of cancer patients worldwide," said Yuan Junying, professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School.

The research at BioBay to find successful compounds, which will be used at the clinical stage before it is put into production, is expected to take about three years to complete.

Roche will be given first priority to make choice of whether it will continue investing in the compounds for a clinic test or gives them up when it finds it unnecessary to do so, Zabrowski said.