Daewon Pharmaceutical announced on the 28th that it held a signing ceremony for the '2025 Seoul Biohub-Daewon Pharmaceutical Open Innovation Program' in partnership with Seoul Biohub at the Seoul Biohub Global Center.
This program is aimed at discovering startups with next-generation drug development technologies and linking them from meticulous technology validation to market entry support. Daewon Pharmaceutical conducted a recruitment of participating corporations together with Seoul Biohub from May to July and, after screening, selected Kitex Bio and Atomatrix as finalists.
Kitex Bio possesses the core technology 'FLIC.' The FLIC technology is a new paradigm of conjugation technology that combines drugs such as anticancer agents with albumin. It minimizes albumin alteration and also has cost-saving effects compared to protein recombinant technology.
Atomatrix is improving the success rate of discovering initial drug candidates based on the world's first commercialized 'Membrane Protein Pharmacological Signal Prediction Platform' for key drug targets that include membrane proteins. It has secured drug candidate and drug target binding prediction technology using advanced AI-based modeling, docking, and molecular dynamics technology.
Daewon Pharmaceutical will review the commercialization potential of the startups' technologies and provide necessary feedback during the productization process. Corporations that achieve outstanding results in the final evaluation will be offered the opportunity to participate in Daewon Pharmaceutical's own open innovation program called the 'Deoham Program.'
Seoul Biohub will provide infrastructure such as research space and shared equipment according to the agreement. It plans to pursue tailored support that startups practically need, including corporate diagnostics, technology and commercialization consulting, and domestic and international market verification in collaboration with specialized accelerators.
Lee Kyung-jun, head of the Daewon Pharmaceutical Research Institute and executive director, said, "The open innovation program promoted in conjunction with Seoul Biohub is an important foundation for securing the future competitiveness of the pharmaceutical industry." Kim Hyun-woo, the Director General of Seoul Biohub, noted, "The collaboration with Daewon Pharmaceutical is establishing itself as a model case of nurturing promising startups through cooperation between the public and private sectors."