Korea-based AI-driven drug discovery company AIGEN Sciences has raised KRW 12 billion (approximately USD 9 million) in funding. The round included both existing investors, such as Partners Investment, Quad Asset Management, and Medytox Venture Investment, as well as new participants Premier Partners, K2 Investment Partners, and Scale Up Partners.

Founded in April 2021, AIGEN Sciences was established by Professor Jae Woo Kang’s research team at Korea University, which had won seven international biomedical AI competitions. The company focuses on using its proprietary AI platform to quickly and efficiently develop small-molecule drugs for unmet medical needs, particularly in the field of refractory diseases. In a short period, AIGEN has built an impressive pipeline, ranging from optimized lead compounds to preclinical drug candidates. The company has also partnered with major Korean pharmaceutical companies, engaging in joint research efforts, including discovering new ADC (Antibody Drug Conjugate) payloads.

Recently, AIGEN attracted attention for “Meerkat,” a large language model (LLM) developed in collaboration with Korea University and Imperial College London. This model achieved an impressive 85.8% score on the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE), outperforming OpenAI’s GPT-4. Building on this success, AIGEN is developing a fully integrated AI drug discovery platform based on LLMs. This platform aims to enhance productivity by allowing seamless collaboration between drug discovery experts and AI, with continuous learning through expert feedback.

CEO Jae Woo Kang remarked, “In the current climate of global economic downturn and reduced biotech investment, this funding is a significant achievement. It will enable us to strengthen our competitive edge in AI-driven drug discovery and accelerate the development of our key drug pipelines.”

He added, “We also plan to use our LLM-based AI assistant technology to improve the efficiency of the drug development process and expand our collaborations with global pharmaceutical companies.”