Ribomic Inc. and ASKA Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced that they executed a multi-year joint research and development agreement for drug discovery research and development targeting specific hormone receptors with the aim of discovering new drugs. In this research, they concluded this agreement due to matching the intention of RIBOMIC, a medical discovery platform bio-venture, developing aptamer which is a kind of Nucleic Acid medicines, and ASKA holding the management vision of "becoming highly competitive specialty pharma company," and actively promoting the development based on new products. ASKA has been focusing on the development of pharmaceutical products for diseases in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, and aims to create aptamer pharmaceuticals that act on certain hormone receptors that play a crucial role in the field, by using RiboART System, RIBOMIC's basic drug discovery technology.

With the conclusion of this agreement, ASKA will pay research expenditures to RIBOMIC on a step-by-step basis. RIBOMIC will also be entitled to an upfront payment for achievement of milestones in accordance with certain outcomes of the joint research. In addition, specific achievement conditions and amounts will not be disclosed under the contract.

The impact of this transaction on RIBOMIC and ASKA's results for FY2020 will be minor.