HK inno.N said on April 27 it has signed a joint research and development agreement with Atomatrix to develop next-generation treatments for obesity.
The agreement aims to discover novel small-molecule candidates with new mechanisms of action that can overcome the limitations of incretin-based obesity therapies, such as GLP-1 receptor agonists, by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) and computer simulation-based drug design platforms.
HK inno.N will leverage its in-house drug development capabilities to conduct compound synthesis and biological evaluation, verifying the efficacy and safety of candidate materials. Atomatrix will be responsible for designing and screening candidates using its proprietary drug design platform, CANDI.
CANDI is a molecular dynamics (MD)-based drug design platform, one of the analytical methods that utilize AI and computer simulations. It is designed to precisely analyze not only the binding stability between target proteins and candidate compounds but also the pharmacological responses that occur after binding.
Park Byung-chul, head of the New Drug Research Institute at HK inno.N, said, “We are actively pursuing non-incretin-based drug candidates that can overcome the limitations of existing obesity treatments, such as gastrointestinal side effects and muscle loss,” adding, “By combining the strengths of both companies, we will strive to rapidly identify promising candidates and advance them quickly into subsequent development stages.”