AstraZeneca has chosen Ezcuris, a domestic new drug development corporations for immune diseases, and the AI protein design corporations Galux as new collaboration partners.
AstraZeneca on the 22nd (local time) unveiled the partnership with the two corporations at BioUSA 2026 in San Diego, California. The announcement drew industry attention because it came right after the company named immune diseases and AI-based drug development as next-generation investment priorities.
The collaboration was made through Project NOVA (NOVA), an open innovation program run by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) and Korea AstraZeneca. Project NOVA is a platform that directly connects the technology and pipelines of domestic biotechs to AstraZeneca's global headquarters to provide opportunities for technology evaluation and business development.
Key executives from the Search & Evaluation organization at AstraZeneca's global headquarters attended the event to present the company's investment priorities directly. Nikhil Muthial, AstraZeneca's global business development lead, said, "We have been actively expanding in respiratory and immune diseases recently," and noted, "We are looking for new pipelines in rheumatic diseases, gastrointestinal diseases and dermatologic diseases."
Specifically, the company identified autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome and psoriatic arthritis, as well as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease and atopic dermatitis as key areas of interest.
This aligns with Ezcuris, which is developing treatments for immune diseases such as atopic dermatitis, asthma and allergic rhinitis. Ezcuris is a biotech venture that originated from a lab at the College of Pharmacy at Korea University and was founded by Professor Jeon Young-ho of Korea University. The company is pursuing a Series B round of about 5 billion won and has been valued at about 65 billion won.
Jeon Young-ho, CEO of Ezcuris, said, "Combining Ezcuris's differentiated immunology research capabilities with AstraZeneca's expertise in new drug development will make it possible to develop innovative treatments," and explained, "In particular, the SIK (salt-inducible kinase) inhibitor the company is developing targets protein-protein interaction (PPI) targets that have long been considered difficult for drug development."
Jeon added, "With recent advances in structural biology and AI-based drug design technology, new opportunities are opening to precisely modulate such targets," and said, "Through this collaboration, we will pursue the development of innovative new drugs that can provide new treatment options for patients."
Galux, an AI-based drug development platform corporations, also aligns with AstraZeneca's strategy.
Chris Church, AstraZeneca's head of technology scouting, said in the presentation, "AI and Machine Learning are core technologies from discovering new targets to designing optimal candidate molecules and optimizing clinical trials," and explained that they are "a core partnership area for future drug development."
Galux is an AI drug development corporations founded in 2020 by Suk-Cha Ok of the Department of Chemistry at Seoul National University. Through its proprietary platform GaluxDesign, it has de novo protein design technology that designs desired antibodies from scratch.
The corporations recently presented preclinical data at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR 2026) on an immuno-oncology candidate that combines PD-1 inhibition with activation of interleukin-18 (IL-18). This year it raised a Series B round of about 42 billion won, bringing cumulative funding to 68 billion won, and it began preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) by appointing Mirae Asset Securities and Korea Investment & Securities Co. as joint lead underwriters.
In particular, AstraZeneca said it would actively review not only antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), radiopharmaceuticals and immuno-oncology in oncology, but also AI-based data platforms and new target discovery technologies. Galux's AI-based protein design technology also aligns with the AI and new modality (therapeutic approach) acquisition strategy AstraZeneca presented that day.
Park Tae-yong, vice president of Galux, said, "This collaboration with AstraZeneca aims to design, using AI, new proteins with predefined functions," and noted, "We are currently generating proteins with the desired binding properties and functions, and the two companies plan to jointly validate the functions of those proteins going forward."
Park added, "We expect that combining Galux's AI capabilities with AstraZeneca's therapeutic development capabilities can create significant synergy," and said, "We hope this collaboration expands into a long-term partnership."
In the industry, the Ezcuris–Galux case is being seen as a sign that the results of global open innovation by domestic biotechs are beginning to become visible. Jeong Young-hun, planning director at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), said, "At a time when securing innovative technology has become a core competitive edge, Project NOVA is serving as a bridge that consolidation domestic biotechs and global pharmaceutical companies," and added, "We will continue to provide follow-up support so that it leads to substantive joint research and business results."