Experimental Drug Development Centre

What Experimental Drug Development Centre does

The Experimental Drug Development Centre (EDDC) is Singapore's national drug discovery and development platform, hosted by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). Formed in 2019 by integrating three predecessor entities (Experimental Therapeutics Centre, Drug Discovery and Development, and Experimental Biotherapeutics Centre), EDDC operates a fully integrated end-to-end pipeline spanning target validation, medicinal and peptide chemistry, high-throughput screening (up to 16,000 compounds/day with a 400,000+ compound library), high-throughput phenomics, structural biology (NMR, X-ray crystallography, Cryo-EM), therapeutic protein and antibody discovery, in vivo pharmacology, biomarker development, CMC, regulatory affairs, and clinical development support. The organization employs 100+ scientists and clinicians with leadership pedigree spanning Bayer, Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novartis, AstraZeneca, and Abbott.

EDDC serves three customer groups: (1) biopharmaceutical companies, which license pipeline assets or enter co-development deals (e.g., Boehringer Ingelheim for tumor-specific antibodies with potential payments exceeding 100 million EUR, Everest Medicines for COVID-19 3CL protease inhibitors, Daiichi Sankyo for NK cell engagers); (2) academic and public research institutions in Singapore via the Target Translation Consortium and Singapore Therapeutics Development Review; and (3) biotech companies and other industry clients accessing EDDC's ISO 9001:2015-certified EARO fee-for-service platforms. The company also conducts in-house drug development through internal pipeline assets including EBC-129 (a first-in-class ADC targeting tumor-specific N-glycosylated CEACAM5/CEACAM6, FDA Fast Track Designation for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma), ETC-159 (Wnt-porcupine inhibitor, Phase 1B completed for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer), and EDDC-2214 (COVID-19 3CL protease inhibitor).

EDDC operates as a publicly funded national platform, with revenue derived from upfront/milestone/royalty payments on licensed assets, fee-for-service arrangements through EARO, and grant funding routed through A*STAR. As a government state entity without traditional VC or PE ownership, the company does not disclose revenue figures; its financial model combines public-sector funding with commercial licensing economics to sustain drug discovery operations, prioritize Asian-prevalent and unmet medical needs, and build Singapore's domestic biotech ecosystem.

Name

Experimental Drug Development Centre

Legal name

Experimental Drug Development Centre

Website

https://eddc.sg

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drug Discovery and Pharmaceutical R&D Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Site Data Management Support (EDC/Source/SDV Readiness) (HLAGACAL)

Keywords

• Drug discovery services
• Pharmaceutical research
• Small molecule therapeutics
• Antibody drug conjugates
• Clinical development

Headquarters

HQ city

Singapore

HQ country

Singapore

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Licensing and Co-development Deals: EDDC generates revenue through licensing agreements and co-development partnerships where pipeline assets are advanced through clinical development. Partners include Boehringer Ingelheim (antibodies), Everest Medicines (COVID-19 antivirals), and others with upfront payments, milestone payments, and royalties.
2. Fee-for-Service (EARO): EDDC's Academic Research Organisation (EARO) provides access to drug discovery capabilities and expertise on a fee-for-service basis, offering high-throughput screening, phenomics, and compound management services to academic institutions and biotech companies.
3. Academic Collaborations: Collaborations with academic researchers through Target Translation Consortium (TTC) and Singapore Therapeutics Development Review (STDR) for preclinical target validation and drug discovery projects.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

EDDC is Singapore's national drug discovery and development platform that integrates small and large molecule capabilities spanning target validation, medicinal chemistry, biologics discovery, high-throughput screening, structural biology, and clinical development support. It translates biomedical discoveries into therapeutic candidates through pipeline asset development (EBC-129 ADC, ETC-159, EDDC-2214), fee-for-service access via EARO, licensing and co-development agreements with pharmaceutical companies, and academic collaborations through the Target Translation Consortium.

Product overview

EDDC is Singapore's national platform for drug discovery and development, formed in 2019 from the integration of the Experimental Therapeutics Centre (ETC), Drug Discovery and Development (D3), and Experimental Biotherapeutics Centre (EBC). EDDC provides a fully integrated drug discovery ecosystem comprising multiple specialized platforms and services: The Target Translation Consortium (TTC) for preclinical target validation; EARO (EDDC Academic Research Organisation) as a fee-for-service platform offering High Throughput Screening (HTS), High Throughput Phenomics (HTP), and the Compound Hub for compound management; and therapeutic pipeline assets including EBC-129 (ADC for solid tumors), ETC-159 (Wnt-porcupine inhibitor), and EDDC-2214 (COVID-19 antiviral). EDDC's capabilities span biochemical/biophysical assay development, cellular and biologics assay development, medicinal and peptide chemistry, chemical biology, structural biology (X-ray, Cryo-EM, NMR), therapeutic protein and antibody discovery, computational biology, biomarker development, in vivo pharmacology, and clinical drug development support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Target Translation Consortium (TTC) A consortium bringing together resources and expertise of Singapore's public research entities to facilitate preclinical validation of putative drug targets arising from publicly-funded research.
• EARO (EDDC Academic Research Organisation) Fee-for-service initiative providing access to EDDC's specialized technologies, expertise, and connections for academic institutions and biotech companies. ISO 9001:2015 certified.
• EBC-129 (Antibody-Drug Conjugate) First made-in-Singapore antibody-drug conjugate targeting tumor-specific N-glycosylated epitope on CEACAM5 and CEACAM6. In Phase 1 clinical trials for solid tumors with Fast Track Designation for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.
• ETC-159 (Small Molecule Wnt Inhibitor) Small molecule Wnt-porcupine inhibitor developed in collaboration with Duke-NUS. Completed Phase 1B trials showing promising outcomes for patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
• EDDC-2214 (3CL Protease Inhibitor) Novel and potent SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitor developed as oral antiviral COVID-19 treatment, licensed globally to Everest Medicines.
• Drug Development Services Clinical development support including medical monitoring, clinical operations, CMC coordination, and regulatory affairs for IND submissions and clinical trial management.

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and strategic.

• Daiichi SankyocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 March 2026Innovative research collaboration to advance next-generation NK cell engagers for cancer treatment.
• ChemLexcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 December 2025MoU signed to accelerate small molecule drug discovery through advanced automation. ChemLex, an AI-for-science startup, established global HQ and self-driving lab in Singapore with $45M funding.
• RDP Pharma AGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 July 2025Strategic collaboration to discover and develop monovalent targeted protein degraders for autoimmune diseases.
• Sprint BioscienceminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2025Collaboration in inflammatory diseases leveraging complementary expertise in drug discovery.
• Engine BiosciencesstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 April 2025Partnership to advance novel therapies to combat cancer through combined capabilities in drug discovery and target identification.
• ImmunoScapestrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2023Strategic alliance to develop TCR-based bispecific molecules for solid tumors, leveraging ImmunoScape's TCR discovery capabilities and EDDC's development expertise.
• Boehringer IngelheimcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 2 June 2022Global licensing agreement granting Boehringer Ingelheim exclusive worldwide rights to research, develop, and commercialize tumor-specific antibodies for targeted cancer therapies including ADCs and T-cell engagers. Potential payments totaling >100 million EUR in upfront and success-based milestones.
• Everest MedicinescoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 14 January 2022Global licensing agreement granting Everest exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize EDDC's series of 3CL protease inhibitors as COVID-19 oral antivirals. Includes technology transfer and sub-licensing rights.
• Neuro-Horizon PharmacoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 January 2022Licensing of small molecule compounds targeting mycobacterial ATP synthase for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment. Commercialization through NTU's NTUitive.
• A*STAR Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-development of EBC-129 ADC; BTI identified the antibody and target epitope, EDDC characterized and developed the ADC through preclinical stages.
• National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-institutional collaboration for EBC-129 development; NCCS involved in identifying antibody target and will conduct clinical trials.
• A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped IHC assay for patient selection in EBC-129 clinical trials.
• A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIdentified tumor-associated targets from gastric cancer cells for antibody development.
• A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering & Bioimaging (IBB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGenerated initial antibody technologies for tumor-specific antibodies licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim.
• Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of TB compounds through TOPNet platform; NTUitive led commercialization efforts for Neuro-Horizon licensing.
• Health Sciences Authority (HSA)coreOthersSingapore regulatory authority for clinical trial approvals and regulatory submissions.
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)coreOthersGranted IND approval for EBC-129 clinical trials and Fast Track Designation for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• GenScript: Asia-headquartered biotech services company offering antibody discovery, protein engineering, and cell therapy services — comparable integrated biologics discovery services peer.
• Pharmaron: Global drug discovery CRO/CDMO with integrated chemistry, biology, DMPK, and clinical capabilities spanning small and large molecules — a directly comparable integrated drug discovery services peer.
• Evotec: European-headquartered drug discovery CRO with deep expertise in high-throughput screening, structural biology, antibody discovery, and integrated co-development partnerships — operates a similar end-to-end model to EDDC.
• Eurofins Discovery: Drug discovery services division of Eurofins offering medicinal chemistry, in vitro pharmacology, ADME, and HTS services — directly comparable fee-for-service discovery CRO.

Regional players

• Novotech (Novotech Health Holdings): Asia-Pacific-focused clinical CRO headquartered in Australia — comparable regional CRO serving biotech sponsors, though more weighted to clinical operations than discovery.
• ChemPartner: Shanghai-based integrated CRO/CDMO providing chemistry, biology, and pharmacology services across small and large molecules — comparable Asian regional discovery CRO peer.

Emerging players

• Schrödinger: Computational drug discovery platform combining physics-based simulation with collaborative discovery partnerships — a relevant peer given EDDC's investment in computational chemistry and AI partnerships.
• AbCellera Biologics: Canadian antibody discovery platform using single-cell screening and AI to discover therapeutic antibodies — comparable in antibody discovery technology and platform-driven licensing model to EDDC's biologics arm.

Broad incumbents

• Charles River Laboratories: Global CRO with significant drug discovery, safety assessment, and manufacturing services, including antibody and biologics capabilities — broader, more established public-company peer.
• WuXi AppTec: Asia's largest end-to-end CRO/CDMO offering drug discovery, preclinical, and clinical development services with comparable integrated capabilities; operates a much broader portfolio than EDDC's national platform focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/experimental-drug-development-centre-eddc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Experimental Drug Development Centre