Seoul, South Korea-(BUSINESS WIRE)–Deargen inc.an AI-based drug discovery and development company, announced on the 24th that it had raised US$17 million in a Series B funding round. This will be used to accelerate the pipeline internally by creating a drug development research institute.

In Series B investments, major Korean institutional investors, including NVESTOR, The Wells Investment and Korea Development Bank, participated as new investors in addition to existing investors, such as Hana Ventures and TS Investment, as new investors. follow-up investors.

Deargen explained that the fund obtained through the investment will be used to establish the iDear Center for AI-based drug discovery and development, the expansion of applications of the new drug development platform (Dr. .UG) powered by AI and accelerating foreign market entry, etc. The company plans to implement a new AI-integrated drug development system that not only supports the initial stages of a study, such as target discovery to substance design, but also synthesis and drug development.

The iDear Center in Deargen will be established to ensure the continuity of new drug development based on the synergy of professional staff with more than 20 years of new drug development experience in Korean and foreign pharmaceutical companies and technology. AI for new drug development verified by technology development and learning processes over many years.

As the only Korean company to have presented multiple papers on new drug development at globally prestigious AI conferences (AAAI, ACM, and MLHC, etc.), Deargen has been recognized for its overseas research achievements .

With its excellent AI technology power for new drug development, Deargen conducts joint studies not only in Korea with SK Chemical, Handok and Samsung Medical Center, but also with foreign pharmaceutical companies and research institutes for development new drugs by establishing a branch in the United States in August of last year. It creates visible results, such as completing the discovery of the first-in-class target for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), designing and synthesizing a new drug candidate, and applying for patent in just ten weeks using its AI platform, Drogue.

Deargen’s AI new drug development platform is an end-to-end model. After last year, Deargen was again included in the list of the top 33 companies in the field of AI new drug discovery for the fourth quarter of 2021 published by Deep Pharma Intelligence (DPI), a British investment agency. and pharmaceutical research and bioengineering, in collaboration with globally listed companies.

Junwoo Park, Managing Director of TS Investment, said, “We have witnessed direct evidence that Deargen is able to develop the most effective drug,” he explained, “We decided on the follow-on investment , expecting Deargen to grow even faster when it focuses on its in-house new drug development capabilities through the to-be-created research center.

Hyungsoon Chun, Managing Director of NVESTOR, said, “Deargen has already won recognition for its outstanding technological power from several pharmaceutical companies in the global AI-powered novel drug development market. We believe Deargen will become a global leader in the development of new AI-based medicines and we are excited to be part of this investment round.

Kilsoo Kang, CEO of Deargen, said, “Global pharmaceutical companies and leading research institutes recognize Deargen’s AI technology that they offer us to cooperate. Through iDear Center, a new drug development center to which Deargen’s differentiated AI technologies are applied, we will verify AI-designed substances, continuously produce new drug candidates, and thereby expand our internal pipeline.