Samsung Epis Holdings(0126Z0) subsidiary Samsung Bioepis said on the 9th that it signed a technology introduction agreement for antibody drug development with the AI-based protein analysis corporations Proteina(468530).
The agreement follows a government-funded project by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, "Development and validation of antibody biopharmaceuticals using an AI model," which the two sides have been conducting since Oct. last year with a research team led by Baek Min-gyeong, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University.
The contract amount was not disclosed by mutual agreement, but the filing that day estimated it at a minimum of 41.8 billion won, or at least 2.5% of the most recent fiscal year's sales.
The two sides will cooperate with the goal of identifying antibody drug candidates using AI by 2027. Proteina will handle AI-based candidate discovery and verification, and Samsung Bioepis will conduct preclinical studies for an investigational new drug (IND) application.
If Samsung Bioepis later exercises a license option, it will proceed with clinical development and commercialization, while Proteina will receive milestone payments by development stage and sales royalties.
Samsung Bioepis has so far obtained approval for a total of 11 biosimilar products from major regulators including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and the company said there have been no rejections in the IND approval process.
Proteina has an in-house developed ultra-high-speed antibody development and analysis platform. The platform shortens the antibody validation period, which used to take several months, to about two weeks, and can analyze more than 10,000 antibody sequences simultaneously each week, which it says can significantly speed up drug development.
The collaboration is also a case of Samsung's future technology nurturing program leading to actual commercialization. Yoon Tae-young, CEO of Proteina, received support from the Samsung Science & Technology Foundation for five years from 2014 to 2018.
Kim Kyung-ah, president of Samsung Bioepis, said, "This will be an opportunity to extend the process optimization capabilities we have accumulated through biosimilar development to the field of antibody drug development," adding, "We will work closely with our partners to successfully carry out the government's national project."
Yoon Tae-young, CEO of Proteina, said, "It is significant that a technology combining AI with an experimental validation platform has entered an important demonstration phase that goes beyond the research stage and leads to actual drug development."