Korea's Samsung Bioepis enters into agreement with Proteina for AI-based antibody therapeutics
July 13, 2026 | Monday | News
To identify multiple novel antibody drug candidates designed using AI by 2027
South Korea-based Samsung Bioepis has entered into a license agreement with Proteina Co. to collaborate on a government-supported national R&D initiative aimed at developing AI-based antibody therapeutics.
The R&D initiative titled "Development and Demonstration of Antibody Biopharmaceuticals Using AI Models" was launched in October 2025 as a national R&D project, supported by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and led by a consortium of Samsung Bioepis, Proteina, and Professor Minkyung Baek's research team at the School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University. The financial details of the R&D project remain confidential.
Under this agreement, the parties will collaborate to identify multiple novel antibody drug candidates designed using artificial intelligence (AI) by 2027. Samsung Bioepis will lead preclinical studies up to investigational new drug (IND) application, while Proteina will be responsible for lead discovery of novel therapeutics. Samsung Bioepis has the right to exercise the license option to proceed with clinical development and commercialisation and will be paying certain milestone payments and royalty fees in return.
Based on its proprietary ultra-high-speed, high-throughput antibody optimisation and performance measurement platform, Korea-based Proteina’s technology can reduce the antibody validation process from several months to as little as two weeks, while screening over 10,000 antibody sequences per week.
