Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical Advances AI-Based 'Sleep Therapy' Electronic Medicine Development... "Targeting Digital Therapeutics Market"

Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical is accelerating the development of personalized sleep-inducing electroceuticals. In July, Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical signed a joint development agreement for AI (artificial intelligence)-based electroceuticals with leading domestic universities and industry-academic cooperation foundations, officially launching the related project.

On the 17th, Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical announced that the development of the ‘AI-based sleep therapy electroceutical’ is progressing smoothly following a quarterly review meeting with the industry-academic cooperation foundations of Kookmin University, Seoul National University, and Hanyang University.

Researchers from Kookmin University and Hanyang University are developing the hardware (HW) and software (SW) for brainwave measurement devices, respectively, while Seoul National University (Professor Ki-Young Jung, Department of Neurology) is responsible for clinical trials and evaluations.

Professor Seungmin Lee’s team at Kookmin University completed the prototype development of a thin and lightweight patch that can be attached to the forehead to measure brainwaves wirelessly and has begun validating the patch. Professor Changhwan Lim’s team at Hanyang University confirmed the possibility of classifying sleep stages using a prefrontal cortex brainwave channel signal classification model. Professor Ki-Young Jung’s team at Seoul National University is awaiting Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval to commence full-scale clinical trials and is conducting validation and evaluation by direct comparison with existing polysomnography devices to verify the usefulness and accuracy of the personalized sleep-inducing electroceutical.

Electroceuticals, regarded as next-generation therapeutics, are a drug-alternative treatment method that directly delivers electromagnetic stimulation to the body to treat or alleviate related diseases. The term is a combination of Electronic and Pharmaceutical. By treating diseases through electrical signals generated in the brain and nerve cells, electroceuticals can reduce development time, costs, and side effects compared to conventional new drugs, prompting many global companies to rapidly enter this market.

Professor Seungmin Lee of Kookmin University stated, “Personalized sleep-inducing electroceuticals are the most accurate but have the drawback of being difficult to measure during sleep, making natural monitoring challenging.” He added, “The sleep-inducing electroceutical currently under development can acquire brainwave signals in a way that does not interfere with sleep at all, enabling precise monitoring, which will greatly help modern people suffering from sleep disorders manage their health.”

A representative from Gyeongnam Pharmaceutical explained, “Besides this project, we are currently reviewing the development of multiple electroceuticals and digital therapeutics. We will continue to actively participate in new drug development using AI to become a leading company in the market.”