Experts pointed out that it is urgent to match technology demanders and suppliers to develop the AI-based drug development ecosystem.
The Korea Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) held the second meeting of the AI-based New Drug Development Council on Wednesday to discuss how to develop the AI drug development ecosystem.
Most participants in the meeting shared the view that the “K-Melody Project” is a program that proves that good results can be achieved by bringing scattered data together, so AI companies must participate and achieve results actively.
The K-Melody Project aims to accelerate the development of new drugs by utilizing “federated learning” to learn AI without collecting data held by various companies and institutions in one place. The project has been reflected in the government's strategy for creating a new bio-health market, a five-year comprehensive plan to support the development of the third pharmaceutical bio-industry, and a plan to foster a global cluster of high-tech industries. It is expected to be promoted in earnest next year.
In the meeting, experts stressed the need to establish an AI drug development platform with self-sustaining operation capabilities led by the industry, activate the utilization of data held by pharmaceutical bio companies, and support the integration of new drug development and AI models as key requirements for the successful implementation of K-Melody.
They also cited a collaborative project to match companies that need and supply AI technology as the most urgent task. The experts noted that this is a way to implement 100 projects that demonstrate the results of applying AI technology to the drug pipeline in the drug discovery, preclinical, and clinical stages.
They added that all this is to accelerate drug discovery and expand the scope of AI drug discovery collaboration across industries.
“Despite the contraction of the investment environment, the market growth trend and investment trend will not slow down because AI drug development is not an option but a necessity,” KPBMA Chairperson Noh Yeon-hong said. “I would like AI companies to contribute significantly to successfully implementing the K-Melody project, which will be a major turning point in AI drug development."
The AI-based New Drug Development Council of the Korea Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers Association is led by Chairman Kim Yi-rang (CEO of Oncocross), Vice Chairman Park Sung-soo (Vice President of Deargen), and Vice Chairman Song Sang-ok (CTO of Standardim), It has 28 AI companies as members.