The government will invest 40.4 billion won ($29.3 million) in developing an artificial intelligence-based antibody biobetter. The goal is to discover one AI-designed antibody biobetter, without limiting it to a specific disease.

An official from the Health Industry Promotion Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare explained at a recent meeting with journalists from medical and pharmaceutical media outlets, explaining the ministry’s policy to “to enhance the future competitiveness of Korea’s biopharmaceutical industry."

According to the official, the ministry secured increased funding for AI-based antibody biobetter development through the second supplementary budget bill to strengthen the competitiveness of future national biopharmaceuticals. The project is a national R&D project that utilizes AI design-based technology to develop and mass-produce biobetter candidates targeting specific diseases rapidly.

A biobetter is a drug that has improved safety, efficacy, and usability compared to already licensed biological drugs .by improving formulation, dosage, delivery method, or the active ingredient to enhance safety, efficacy, and usability over existing biologics.

The ministry plans to select and build an industry-academy-research consortium by September and start the project in October. The core of the project is to discover one antibody drug, such as an AI-based biobetter, during the two-year, three-month project period, and the allocated budget is 40.4 billion won.

The ministry has not limited the target disease areas, but it plans to select biobetter or biopharmaceutical projects submitted during the competition and provide funding for one project.

After announcing the research proposal in July, we will finalize it through a specialized committee and announce it by August, establish an industry-academia-research consortium in September, and start the project in October,” the official said. “We will select one project and allocate a budget of 40.4 billion won for two years and three months.”

“It's not a small budget. We did not specify a disease group, and we plan to select antibody biobetters, antibody biologics, and other similar products,” the official explained. “The goal of the project is to improve national bio competitiveness and create biobetters in the future. We don't know which projects will be selected until we receive applications."