AI Startup Cradle Global Startup Academy <3> Jeong Jihee, CEO of Mediiplus
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Amid renewed interest in vaccine development due to the recent resurgence of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there is a startup gaining attention as a solution that dramatically enhances the efficiency of clinical trials, which are essential in new drug development. This company is MediiPlus, a clinical trial big data firm. MediiPlus collects and analyzes clinical trial data, which is a mandatory step in new drug and vaccine development, and provides users with optimized information. The company's ambition is to shorten the time from new drug development to sales by offering a solution that allows users to grasp the entire clinical trial process at once.
On the 30th, Jeong Ji-hee, CEO of MediiPlus, stated, "Clinical trials are like an orchestra performance; if one part goes wrong, the whole piece becomes a mess," adding, "MediiPlus's service aims to improve the efficiency of this clinical trial ecosystem." Jeong’s dedication to enhancing clinical trial efficiency stems from his experience. As a pharmacist who worked at a global pharmaceutical company, he witnessed numerous clinical trial failures and realized that many pharmaceutical companies faced similar issues. Due to limited information, Korean bio ventures lacked data when entering overseas markets, and foreign bio ventures could not obtain standardized information when preparing clinical trials in Korea. Consequently, clinical trial opportunities sometimes went to inappropriate candidates or to those who had already undergone too many trials, slowing down the overall clinical trial process.
Jeong believed that gathering scattered data into a single, easily accessible service could resolve these issues. He explained, "The money and time required until clinical trial results are obtained can shake even global pharmaceutical companies. Having experienced the value of collecting scattered data while working in the pharmaceutical industry, I thought that if we process this data well to increase its value, the pharmaceutical and bio industries themselves would become more efficient."
To achieve this, MediiPlus had to undertake the unprecedented task of standardizing and processing clinical trial terminology. Jeong emphasized, "Building clinical trial big data requires a labor-intensive medical terminology preprocessing step, which takes more time and effort than expected. This data processing capability is MediiPlus's strength and competitive edge."
Through this, MediiPlus has established a customized clinical trial information service. Jeong said, "Just as Toss focused solely on remittances and grew steadily, MediiPlus is initially focusing on improving the efficiency of clinical trial preparation stages, particularly on customized clinical trial design information."
During the development of its business model, MediiPlus received support from the Global Startup Academy of the Small and Medium Business Corporation. Jeong noted, "For AI companies, it is difficult to formalize business models, but through the Global Startup Academy, we gained various business models and ideas from other industries," adding, "We recently held a workshop within our organization to apply ideas obtained from lectures at the Global Startup Academy."
MediiPlus conducts business-to-business (B2B) operations targeting bio venture companies but is also well known among younger generations. This is through operating the YouTube channel "Hanalman," which explains medical, pharmaceutical, and bio industry information?often perceived as stiff and difficult?in an easy-to-understand way for the so-called "MZ generation." Jeong explained, "Alongside our data business providing customized clinical trial information for bio ventures, we also run a creator business that delivers pharmaceutical information through video and audio content."
The company is also pursuing overseas expansion. Jeong said, "The U.S. pharmaceutical market accounts for 50% of the global market, and many bio ventures aim to obtain approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Therefore, MediiPlus plans to enter the North American market in 2022," adding, "We are preparing to launch our open service next year."
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