Seoul Economic Daily: China Poised for Large-Scale AI-Driven Drug Trials While Korea Lags Behind

China is about to launch large-scale AI drug trials, while South Korea is far behind.Far Behind

Global AI Drug Discovery Leader, China's Insilico Medicine, Successfully Completes Phase II Clinical Trial of an AI-Designed Drug and Prepares for Large-Scale Follow-Up Trials. In contrast, only a few South Korean companies have advanced AI-designed drugs to the clinical trial stage, raising concerns that the local industry in Korea may fall behind in the global market.

According to industry sources on the 24th, after Pharos iBio successfully completed the Phase IIa trial of the idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis treatment drug "Rentosertib," it is preparing for large-scale follow-up trials—Phase IIb or Phase III. Rentosertib is a drug developed by Pharos iBio that targets a novel target previously unidentified by AI with no corresponding drug entered clinical trials, and utilizes generative AI to design an entirely new compound. The completed Phase IIa trial confirmed the drug's safety and tolerability while observing signs of improved lung function. If Rentosertib advances to Phase III, it will become the first AI-developed drug to enter Phase III clinical trials.

Recursion Pharmaceuticals in the U.S. has also advanced multiple AI-developed drugs into clinical trial stages. Its drug for Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP), "REC-4881," is currently in Phase Ib/II trials. Preliminary results published by the company in December last year showed that after 12 weeks of treatment, 75% of patients experienced a reduction in polyp burden, with a median reduction of 43%. Recursion is also conducting Phase I/II trials for its anti-cancer drug "REC-617" and Phase I trials for "REC-1245."

In contrast, the progress of AI-driven drug discovery in South Korea has been relatively slow. Pharos iBio (KOSDAQ:388870), the fastest-progressing company in this field in South Korea, has completed the development of "PHI-101," a treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) discovered through its AI drug discovery platform "Chemiverse," and advanced it to Phase I clinical trials. Additionally, the Phase I trial of "PHI-501" (a treatment for refractory solid tumors) has received IND approval. However, unlike Insilico Medicine's approach of designing entirely new targets and molecules from scratch, Pharos iBio's drug candidates are optimized compounds targeting well-established targets.

Galux is a South Korean company focused on designing entirely novel drug compounds. Galux possesses “de novo” (from scratch) antibody design technology capable of creating proteins that do not exist in nature. The company has signed a joint research agreement with multinational pharmaceutical firm Boehringer Ingelheim and is conducting collaborative development projects with Celltrion, LG Chem, and HanAll Biopharma. However, its candidate drugs have yet to enter clinical trials. Other companies that have established AI-driven drug discovery platforms, including JW Pharmaceutical (KOSE: A001060) and Daewoong Pharmaceutical (KOSE: A069620), have also not yet achieved visible results.

From April 28 to 30, BIO KOREA2026 will be held as scheduled at the Seoul COEX Convention Center, and Insilico Medicine will attend for the fifth consecutive year.And settle in D11 booth, engaging in in-depth exchanges with guests from the industry, academia, and investment sectors. We look forward to exploring the frontier trends of AI-driven drug discovery with global partners, sharing practical experiences in generative AI-enabled lifecycle drug development, and jointly pursuing diversified strategic cooperation opportunities.