JW Pharmaceutical and Merck Sign AI Drug Research and Development Partnership Agreement

Merck AI Software 'Cynthia' and Synthetic Research Know-how Support

Jin Se-ho, Head of Raw Material Research Center at JW Pharmaceutical (left), and Lee Nam-gu, Head of Merck Science and Lab Solutions Business, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing a business agreement on the 27th. Photo by JW Pharmaceutical

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] JW Pharmaceutical announced on the 30th that it has signed a business agreement with Merck Life Science of Germany for research and development (R&D) of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for new drugs using artificial intelligence (AI).

Under the agreement, Merck will provide JW Pharmaceutical with the AI software "Cynthia." Cynthia is a program that quickly analyzes and provides synthetic routes for APIs in the new drug development stage. Additionally, Merck's custom synthesis research center "CS Lab" will consult JW Pharmaceutical on its know-how for synthesizing new substances.

JW Pharmaceutical's API Research Center plans to actively utilize Cynthia in the synthesis research of its own new drug candidates. The company expects to reduce research time and costs related to manufacturing methods of compounds (active ingredients) used in preclinical and clinical trials. Along with this, based on the synthetic conditions suggested by Cynthia, they plan to establish an unmanned automated laboratory environment where robots synthesize APIs 24 hours a day, replacing researchers.

Namgu Lee, Head of Merck Science and Lab Solutions Business, said, "Cynthia derives solutions through over 100,000 rules and sophisticated algorithms, and can be used not only for new drug development but also for patent applications and academic papers." He added, "As Korean pharmaceutical and bio companies like JW Pharmaceutical actively strengthen their new drug pipelines using AI, we hope Merck's global technology will contribute to open innovation in the industry."

Youngseop Shin, CEO of JW Pharmaceutical, stated, "JW Pharmaceutical is conducting diverse open innovation activities with bio companies possessing innovative AI technologies to strengthen new drug pipelines discovered through its own R&D platform." He added, "This automated synthesis research collaboration with Merck will be a cornerstone for efficiently conducting various new drug research JW will undertake in the future."

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