Inventage Lab leads AI-powered mRNA obesity drug project with state support
Inventage Lab, a Korean biotech firm specializing in long-acting injectable microspheres and lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based mRNA platforms, said it has been selected as the lead organization for a national research and development project funded by Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The project, titled “Development of an AI-powered digital automation system for customized lipid nanoparticles in nucleic acid therapeutics,” will receive approximately 8.5 billion won ($6.1 million) in funding over four years and nine months.
Inventage Lab will lead the consortium, which includes TheRNA Therapeutics and AMSquare, to build a fully automated system for the design and manufacturing of LNPs using artificial intelligence. The end goal is to develop a preclinical-stage mRNA therapeutic targeting obesity.
Preliminary animal studies using the AI-designed mRNA LNP formulation have shown promising efficacy. In high-fat diet models, treated animals experienced nearly 10 percent weight loss within seven days, along with marked reductions in liver fat accumulation.
These results support both the therapeutic potential of mRNA-based obesity treatments and the versatility of the underlying LNP platform technology.
As the project’s lead, Inventage Lab will leverage its proprietary microfluidics-based LNP formulation platform and GMP-compliant manufacturing infrastructure to integrate AI technology and develop a digital twin system for process optimization.
The company aims to commercialize the AI-designed obesity therapy and further expand its footprint in the mRNA therapeutic sector.
TheRNA Therapeutics will contribute expertise in mRNA engineering and custom LNP formulation, while AMSquare will be responsible for building the AI prediction models and digital twin technology for the manufacturing process.
“This project represents a critical step toward transforming LNP manufacturing through the convergence of advanced AI and microfluidics technologies,” Inventage Lab CEO Kim Ju-hee said. “AI-driven automation can dramatically accelerate the drug development timeline, enabling us to boost Korea’s global competitiveness in mRNA-based obesity therapies, pandemic vaccines, and other next-generation treatments.”