On October 31, SK Biopharmaceuticals announced that it has been selected as a participating institution in the medical and healthcare consortium for the "AI Specialized Foundation Model Project," which is overseen by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
This consortium is a government-led initiative aimed at strengthening national AI competitiveness by developing domain-specific AI models for key industries such as healthcare, law, and manufacturing. SK Biopharmaceuticals will participate as a core member of the medical and healthcare consortium, which is led by Lunit. The company will collaborate with leading firms such as Trillion Labs, iGene Science, and Kakao Healthcare, as well as top academic and medical institutions in Korea, including the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, KAIST, and Seoul National University, to help build an AI-based medical research and development ecosystem.
The Lunit consortium aims to develop a large-scale AI model that integrates data across the entire medical science cycle-including molecular, protein, and clinical data-to improve clinical outcomes. The goal is to establish a medical AI model that can be utilized in a wide range of areas, from supporting clinical decision-making to new drug development and disease prediction.
Within the consortium, SK Biopharmaceuticals will be responsible for AI-driven new drug development and for developing digital twin (virtual patient-based clinical trial simulation) models. The company will especially focus on central nervous system (CNS) disorders, combining compound and protein data with clinical and real-world data (RWD) to advance the drug development process and implement an AI-based research system that covers everything from candidate discovery to clinical design.
This project will be spearheaded by SK Biopharmaceuticals’ AI/DT Center. The AI/DT Center, which reports directly to the CEO, oversees the acceleration of AI and digital transformation across the pharmaceutical business value chain, including the introduction of AI-powered R&D platforms for drug development, data-driven decision-making tools, AI work support systems, and information integration with overseas affiliates. Through this project, the company aims to further strengthen its global-level AI R&D capabilities.
SK Biopharmaceuticals is the only pharmaceutical company in Korea to have independently managed the entire process of discovering, developing, obtaining approval for, and globally commercializing a new drug. The company possesses digital technology capabilities, including an AI drug development platform and an epilepsy management platform.
The company aims to connect the entire process of drug discovery, development, and treatment through AI-driven innovation, and to enhance the treatment experience for patients and caregivers via AI and digital platforms. In the long term, SK Biopharmaceuticals plans to foster communities and develop patient platforms, ultimately building a patient-centered integrated healthcare ecosystem.
In addition, the company is expanding AI-based partnerships and is pursuing commercialization and global expansion of biosignal-based AI models, including the establishment of a joint venture called "Mantis Care" in North America.
Lee Donghoon, CEO of SK Biopharmaceuticals, stated, "It is very meaningful to be selected for a core project aimed at strengthening national AI competitiveness in the medical and healthcare sector. With the AI/DT Center at the core, we will work with leading domestic AI institutions such as Lunit to accelerate AI-based new drug development and digital healthcare innovation, and further strengthen our technological competitiveness."
This project will run for approximately 10 months, from next month until September of next year, and each of the selected consortiums will be provided with 256 of NVIDIA’s latest GPUs.
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