The Ministry of Science and ICT said on Wednesday it had held a launch ceremony in Daegu for a pilot project to build an "AIxBio" research base focused on synthetic new drugs, drawing together universities, companies, hospitals and research institutes in an open innovation ecosystem.
At the heart of the Daegu project is a so-called "Lab-in-the-Loop" system, in which AI models, autonomous experiments, validation and data feedback continuously reinforce one another.
The ministry said the design aims to let laboratories and algorithms advance in tandem, offering a new paradigm for how medicines are found.
The pilot will be run by a Daegu consortium comprising Kyungpook National University, its affiliated hospital, and the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, working with firms such as HLB Life Science to verify AI-proposed compounds in partly automated labs.
"The competitiveness of future drug development hinges on how effectively we connect and apply AI technology and data within real experimental environments," said Oh Dae-hyun, the ministry's director general for future strategic technology policy, adding that next year the government would build on the pilot's results to expand into other areas of AI-bio.
AJP Takeaways
• Daegu becomes the first regional hub in the K-Moonshot program's AI drug-discovery mission, hosting a "Lab-in-the-Loop" system that links AI prediction, autonomous experiments and validation in a continuous cycle.
• The pilot is led by a consortium of Kyungpook National University, its hospital, and the K-MEDI hub foundation, partnering with firms including HLB Life Science to test AI-proposed compounds in partly automated labs.
• The ministry framed the effort as a bid to close the gap with the United States and Britain, which have already built dedicated AI-bio bases, and said next year it would extend the model into other AI-bio fields.
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