Standigm Secures Strategic Investment from SK Chemicals for Expanding its AI-Drug Development Capacity

• SK Chemicals-Standigm will collaborate for the development of Standigm’s AI-driven drug candidate
• Standigm will open its own Synthetic Research Center to facilitate drug development schedule more effectively

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#AI--Standigm Inc. (“Standigm”), a leading workflow artificial intelligence (AI) drug discovery company, and SK Chemicals Co., Ltd (“SK Chemicals”), a life science and green chemicals company, announced today that they have signed a strategic partnership contract for collaboration regarding clinical development of Standigm’s AI-driven drug candidate for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (“NASH”) and the foundation of Standigm’s Synthesis Research Center within the headquarters of SK Chemicals. This partnership was made in conjunction with SK Chemicals’ participation in Standigm’s pre-IPO round of fundraising.

Under the contract, SK Chemicals will collaborate with Standigm on the clinical development of the NASH drug candidate discovered by Standigm Insight™, an AI-aided drug-repurposing platform, which is expected to enter clinical stage next year. Moreover, Standigm plans to open its Synthesis Research Center in the headquarters of SK Chemicals next month. Standigm will be able to synthesize its AI-driven drug candidates directly and efficiently.

"We are pleased that Standigm’s AI-driven drug candidate has found an experienced partner to bring it to successful clinical development," said Jinhan Kim, co-founder and CEO of Standigm, adding, "This partnership will help us to commercialize our AI-driven drug candidates and enhance our ability and expertise in drug development.”

"Since 2019, we have had open innovation collaboration with Standigm, through which we have already experienced Standigm’s advanced technology. Our co-development effort resulted in patent filing of a repurposed FDA-approved drug for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) last January”, said Jeonghoon Kim, head of SK Chemicals research center, adding, “This positive experience convinced us that we could create greater synergy by making strategic investment into Standigm.”

About NASH

Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a liver disease characterized by deposits, inflammation, and tissue damage. NASH is the more serious form of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), which is the most common liver disease in Western industrialized nations. There is no approved treatment option for NASH globally, but clinical trials are currently underway to investigate new treatment options for NASH.

About Standigm

Standigm is a workflow AI-driven drug discovery company. Standigm has proprietary AI platforms encompassing novel target identification to lead generation to generate commercially valuable drug pipelines. Founded in 2015, Standigm has established an early-stage drug discovery workflow AI to generate First-in-Class lead compounds within seven months. Pursuing full-stack, AI-driven industrializing drug discovery, Standigm has achieved the automation of molecular design workflow through DarkMolFactory™, and the automation effort has been expanding to the whole drug discovery process on the basis of Standigm AI platforms, including Standigm ASK™ for target discovery, Standigm BEST™ for lead selection, and Standigm Insight™ for drug repurposing. To date, Standigm is running 22 in-house or collaborative drug pipelines using the workflow AI technology. Learn more at http://www.standigm.com.

About SK Chemicals

SK Chemicals was established in 1969 as Sunkyong Synthetic Textiles and has since undergone ceaseless change and innovation to become the chemicals & life science company that represents Korea today. SK Chemicals’ life sciences business is dominated by pharmaceuticals and biologics and is aimed at providing comprehensive healthcare solutions that cover patient care from diagnosis to treatment and prevention. SK Chemicals successfully developed the first new drug in Korea, Sunpla®, in 1999, thereby opening up a new chapter in the field of synthetic new medicines. The company established a competitive product portfolio in the pharmaceutical field with the consecutive launches of MVIX®, an erectile dysfunction treatment, and MVIX S®, a film-type erectile dysfunction treatment. In addition to its first new natural medicine Joins, SK Chemicals boasts a diverse line of medicines including the arthritis treatment patch, Trast® and blood circulation improvement agent, Ginexin®. Learn more at http://www.skchemicals.com.

Sang Ah Lee (sangah.lee@standigm.com, +82-2-501-8118)