Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to Develop AI-Based Drug Formulation Design Platform

[Financial News] Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is embarking on the development of a platform that utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to predict drug release characteristics and efficacy, and to design optimal formulations.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. announced on the 28th that it has been selected as the lead organization for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE)'s national project, 'Development of an AI-based Integrated Optimal Design Platform for Controlled-Release and Complex Formulations.'
The core of this project is to enable AI to design drug prescriptions and formulations based on the input of a target pharmacokinetic (PK) profile. This approach identifies the appropriate formulation by considering how quickly and for how long the drug acts within the body.
The targets for development are 'controlled-release formulations,' which regulate the rate and amount of drug release within the body, and 'combination formulations,' which contain multiple active ingredients in a single drug.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. plans to combine its accumulated formulation design experience and research data with AI technology to advance existing repetitive prescription exploration and experimentation processes into a data-driven approach.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., along with Kookmin University, Chung-Ang University, and AI Zepharm, are participating in the research as joint research institutions. The research period is 3 years and 6 months, from July 2026 to December 2029, and the total research budget for the consortium is approximately 5.3 billion won.
Prediction accuracy is enhanced by having the AI propose formulation candidates, verifying the results through actual experiments, and incorporating those findings back into the AI training. Features such as dissolution pattern prediction, additive recommendation, and experimental condition suggestions are also planned to be implemented.
In particular, a biomimetic dissolution system is also being developed to simulate the process of drug dissolution as it passes through the stomach and small intestine. The goal is to design formulations suited to target therapeutic characteristics by linking experimental results with pharmacokinetic data.
In the later stages of development, the formulations and key process variables proposed by the AI will be applied to actual drug development projects at Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. Subsequently, the plan is to verify the AI prediction results by proceeding to pilot production in accordance with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards.
Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. plans to utilize this platform in future formulation development processes to reduce research time and trial and error, and to increase the efficiency of formulation research. The consortium is also pursuing plans to commercialize the research results as a web-based subscription platform, along with their field application.
Park Sung-soo, CEO of Daewoong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., stated, "Formulation research is a core development process that determines the performance of pharmaceuticals and patient convenience," adding, "By combining accumulated research experience and data with AI, we will increase the speed and precision of formulation research and build an AI formulation design platform that can be utilized in actual new drug development."

[email protected] Jeong Sang-hee Reporter