Syntekabio, QIMRB report AI COPD drug progress; eyes first trial

[Song Young Doo, Edaily Reporter] Syntekabio said Monday that its joint project with Australia’s QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute(QIMRB) to develop an AI-discovered therapy for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) has produced a final candidate and moved into the patent-filing stage for commercialization.

The partners signed an MOU in 2023 and have been running a co-development program to discover a first-in-class COPD candidate using Syntekabio’s AI drug discovery platform, DeepMatcher®.

According to the company, the collaboration advanced rapidly: AI screening identified candidate compounds within about 50 days, followed by efficacy confirmation in cell and animal models within three months. Mechanism studies using clinical samples reconfirmed COPD activity, and subsequent AI-guided optimization, compound synthesis, and additional validation led to the selection of one final candidate in October 2024.

In April this year, the team completed experiments to determine optimal combination regimens for the candidate. Additional animal studies and patent procedures are now underway. If the patent application is filed, the compound is likely to become the first Syntekabio AI-discovered program to enter clinical testing.

The milestone is being characterized as tangible progress toward “AI drug discovery commercialization,” demonstrating a pathway from AI-driven hit identification to clinical development and lowering practical barriers to AI-enabled R&D.

Globally, AI drug discovery firms are accelerating clinical entry to validate their technologies. In Korea, it remains uncommon for companies to originate candidates on proprietary AI platforms and advance them toward commercialization through international collaborations, as Syntekabio is doing with QIMRB.

The project is drawing attention as evidence that AI can function as a core engine for real-world therapeutic development, rather than merely a research tool.

“This achievement shows that AI-derived candidates can move beyond research into commercialization and clinical stages,” said Syntekabio CEO Jongseon Jeong. “We will expand collaborations with global institutes to prove the practical competitiveness of our AI drug discovery platform and unlock growth potential in Korea’s AI drug discovery market.”