Drugmaker group steps up nurturing new AI drug-developing talents

The Korea Pharmaceutical and Bio-Pharma Manufacturers Association (KPBMA) said Thursday that it is launching a 12-week team project for the LAIDD (Lectures on AI-driven Drug Discovery) Mentoring Project.

Earlier, the association selected 54 trainees through the first written test and second mentor interview for 95 applicants for the mentoring project.

The mentoring project is part of the “AI-driven new drug development education and promotion project” of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. It is the second curriculum opened this year after last year to foster convergence talents that can be immediately put into the field of AI new drug development.

The topics covered by the mentors included: Discovery and validation of new drug targets for complex diseases based on genetic epidemiology (Professor Emeritus Kim Sang-soo of Soongsil University); Generation of small molecule compounds and activity prediction for target proteins (Professor Nam Ho-jung of Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology); Prediction model for protein-ligand binding free energy (Director Yeom Min-sun of NAMU ICT Research Center); Huge virtual screening of inhibitor candidates using deep learning (Professor Lee Ju-yong of Seoul National University); and Discovery of cancer drug targets through integrated analysis of multi-omics data (Professor Hwang Dae-hee of Seoul National University).

Of the 54 trainees selected, 24 hold master's and doctoral degrees, 10 are from pharmaceutical and biotech companies, 10 are from AI-related companies, and the rest are from research institutes, universities, and graduate students. The trainees come from various majors, including bioinformatics, genomics, cheminformatics, data science, pharmacy, medical sciences, and oriental medicine.

Based on their backgrounds and expertise, the trainees will work on AI drug discovery team projects proposed by their mentors over 12 weeks.

As in previous years, the association will present the best practices of the projects at the 2024 AI Parma Korea Conference, scheduled for Oct. 31.

It also plans to issue certificates of competency and digital badges to trainees who complete the project to support job transitions for incumbents and entry into the AI drug development field for job seekers.

For the first time this year, the KPBMA has also launched the “AI Drug Development Boot Camp” training program for beginners in AI drug development. While the mentoring project is a long-term practical training where projects are carried out under the guidance of a mentor, the boot camp is a short-term intensive training consisting of theory and practice.

The boot camp will consist of 24 hours of training over three days from Aug. 26 to 28, and the first 60 participants were recruited in less than a minute, attracting the attention of relevant researchers.

"The high demand to secure expertise through training shows that there is currently a shortage of experts in the field of AI drug development," a KPBMA official said. "More training opportunities and support are needed to strengthen the expertise of personnel in the field of AI drug development and promote innovation in the drug development process, and the association will actively support them."