SK Chemicals and inCerebro to cooperate on developing new drugs

Industry

Published: 11 Apr. 2022, 13:51

SK Chemicals and inCerebro to cooperate on developing new drugs

Kim Jeong-hoon, left, head of SK Chemicals' pharmaceutical research and development center, and Cho Art E., CEO of inCerebro, shake hands after signing an agreement to cooperate on developing new drugs at the start-up’s headquarters in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. [SK CHEMICALS]

SK Chemicals joined forces with biopharmaceutical start-up inCerebro to cooperate on developing new drugs, SK Chemicals said Monday.

Under the agreement, inCerebro will focus on discovering new drug compounds with its own artificial intelligence (AI) technology while SK Chemicals will be in charge of conducting clinical trials, gaining approvals and manufacturing.

Founded in 2019, inCerebro owns the MIND (Modeling with Intelligence for Novel Drugs) platform that uses AI to find new drug compounds. The AI learns molecular modeling techniques, such as quantum and molecular mechanics docking, to more efficiently discover new compounds.

inCerebro CEO Cho Art E. first developed the technology while working at New York-based Schrödinger.

“In the new drug development process, molecular modeling such as docking is an area that requires much trial and error,” said Kim Jeong-hoon, head of SK Chemicals' pharmaceutical research and development center. “It is anticipated that we will be able to find more accurate new drug compounds much quicker with inCerebro’s technology.”

Since 2019, SK Chemicals has been focusing on the new drug development sector by signing agreements with companies that have expertise in big data and AI. The company is currently working with start-ups Standigm, Simplex, Deargen and Dr.Noah.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]