D&D Pharmatech Selected for Government AI-Based Drug Development Project by Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Joint Development of New Oral IBD Drugs
Leveraging Quantum-Based AI and Oral Peptide Technology with Quantum Intelligence

DND Pharmatech announced on the 28th that, together with Quantum Intelligence, a quantum-based AI drug discovery company, it has been selected for and signed an agreement regarding the '2026 AI Drug Candidate Discovery' project under the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Pharmaceutical Bio-Venture Collaboration-Based Technology Development Program.

The project's title is 'Discovery of Oral α4β7 Drug Candidates Utilizing Peptide Oral Delivery Technology and Quantum-Based AI Drug Design Platform.' The project will be conducted for 24 months until June 2028 with a total R&D budget of 1,358,000,000 won.

DND Pharmatech company logo image. DND Pharmatech

Quantum Intelligence will use its quantum mechanics-based AI platform to design and identify peptide candidates with high activity and selectivity for the target protein α4β7. DND Pharmatech plans to assess the in vitro and in vivo efficacy of these candidates and to apply and optimize its own oral peptide platform, ORALINK, to derive the final oral drug candidate.

Integrin α4β7 is a protein expressed on the surface of inflammatory immune cells called lymphocytes. It binds to MAdCAM-1 on intestinal mucosal blood vessels and is involved in the migration of immune cells into intestinal tissues. Selectively blocking integrin α4β7 can inhibit the migration of inflammatory immune cells into intestinal tissue while reducing systemic immunosuppression, making it a notable target for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Currently, the primary therapy targeting α4β7 is Takeda's antibody injection Entyvio (ingredient: vedolizumab), which has already been commercialized. The two companies aim to develop an oral IBD therapy offering greater dosing convenience compared to traditional injection-based treatments by combining the high binding affinity and selectivity of peptides with DND Pharmatech's oral delivery technology.

Seulgi Lee, CEO of DND Pharmatech, stated, "By combining Quantum Intelligence's quantum-based AI drug design technology and our ORALINK oral peptide platform, we will successfully identify next-generation oral IBD drug candidates that can overcome the limitations of current therapies." Hwanho Choi, CEO of Quantum Intelligence, commented, "We plan to discover next-generation peptide candidates with high binding affinity and selectivity for α4β7 and further develop them into innovative drugs by combining them with DND Pharmatech's oral peptide technology."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.