LG AI, D&D Pharmatech Partner for Joint New Drug Development

LG AI Research and D&D Pharmatech signed a definitive agreement on the 16th for a joint development project of next-generation peptide new drugs. The two companies will leverage AI technology to develop oral peptide therapeutics instead of injectable forms.

Peptides are biologically active substances that regulate our body's recovery, growth, and immune systems. They have the advantage of selectively acting on disease causes within cells, which are difficult for conventional antibody drugs to reach, resulting in fewer side effects and higher safety. However, due to their easy degradation by enzymes in the gastrointestinal tract and low absorption rates, they have primarily been developed as injectables. This leads to the inconvenience of patients having to visit hospitals or administer injections themselves.

The two companies will design new substances with enhanced safety and bioavailability using LG AI Research's precise molecular design AI. Through this, they will jointly develop oral peptide therapeutics in pill form for the treatment of intractable diseases. The goal is to establish technological leadership in new areas such as 'macrocyclic peptides,' which are gaining attention in the global obesity and diabetes treatment market.

This collaboration aims for an end-to-end joint development platform, integrating AI design (LG AI Research) with verification and clinical trials (D&D Pharmatech). Once AI rapidly derives optimal peptide sequences by analyzing disease-causing protein structures, D&D Pharmatech will lead the synthesis and evaluation of candidate substances, formulation optimization, and clinical trials. The companies plan to establish a closed-loop structure where verification results of AI-derived substances are fed back into the AI model to enhance the algorithms. As data accumulates, AI's prediction accuracy is expected to increase, shortening the drug development period and reducing costs.

Im Woo-hyung, co-director of LG AI Research, stated that this collaboration is part of the process of completing bio-specialized AI to solve challenges in the bio field and will increase the success rate of next-generation peptide new drug development. The company has already completed the registration of key patents for its self-developed high-performance new substance development platform, EXAONE Discovery, and deployed it for research. This platform features an 'AI Co-Scientist' system where researchers can ask questions in natural language, and the AI acts as a fellow scientist, designing virtual experiments and simulating predicted outcomes.