Theragen Bio, a genetic analysis service and AI-based drug development company, said Tuesday that it would begin mass-producing pilot chips of 'Korean Chip 2.0' developed by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The National Institute of Health under the KDCA will conduct the 'Korea Chip 2.0 Pilot Chip Genomic Information Production Project' and complete it within this year. The Korean Chip 2.0 aims to improve the use of precision medical research beyond the current capabilities of the Korean Chip (version 1.1), commercialized through technology transfer in 2018, the company said.

The KDCA and the National Institute of Health developed Korean Chip 1.0 in 2015 to optimize them for Koreans and overcome the limitations of genetic analysis DNA chips targeted at Western populations.

The Korean Chip aims to develop a next-generation chip that includes more than 2 million highly clinically utilized markers representing Korean genes.

The Korean Chip 2.0 sets itself apart from conventional dielectric chips with high-throughput screening ability. The existing next-generation sequencing (NGS) analysis had limitations in researching genomes of chronic diseases that require sample analysis of tens of thousands of people, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes. However, the expected upgrade to the Korean Chip will likely become easier to find specific mutations only in Koreans, a company official said.

"The government has selected Theragen Bio for the pilot chip genomic information production service project to develop next-generation Korean chips after giving the company the best evaluation several times at the National Institute of Health." CEO Hwang Tae-soon said. “We will continue to strive to help overcome chronic diseases afflicting Koreans by contributing to Korean genomic research.”