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News & Events
Institut Pasteur Korea and DGIST Forge Partnership to Advance AI-Powered Drug Discovery
2025-09-10
Institut Pasteur Korea and DGIST Forge Partnership
to Advance AI-Powered Drug Discovery
- MOU signed to facilitate joint research on compound screening and identification,
and strengthen exchanges in drug development-
- MOU signed to facilitate joint research on compound screening and identification,
and strengthen exchanges in drug development-
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(Sep. 9, 2025, Gyeonggi-do, Rep. of Korea) Institut Pasteur Korea (IPK) and the Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on September 5 to promote cooperation and mutual exchange in AI-driven compound screening, identification, and the broader drug development ecosystem.
The agreement aims to establish a comprehensive collaborative framework encompassing the exchange of personnel, resources, information, and research activities. Through this partnership, the two institutions will work together to build a joint platform for AI-powered drug development targeting a range of unmet medical needs, including emerging infectious diseases, aging-related conditions, cancer, and inflammatory diseases.
The collaboration aims to support a broad range of initiatives, including training and development of human resources through internship and on-site practice programs, shared access to advanced research equipment and infrastructure, exchange of academic and industrial insights, and joint research and technical consultation.
Sung Key Jang, CEO of Institut Pasteur Korea, stated, “By integrating our core technology—high-throughput cell-based efficacy screening—with artificial intelligence, we aim to precisely identify and optimize active compounds and accelerate the generation of novel drug candidates. This partnership will contribute to public health by expediting AI-based drug discovery.”
JaeHyung Koo, Director of Research and Industry-University Cooperation at DGIST, commented, “DGIST has built its strength on multidisciplinary convergence research and industry-academia collaboration. We have actively supported workforce development, joint research, and technology transfer. Through this agreement, we look forward to discovering collaborative projects and strengthening human resource exchanges, ultimately enhancing the regional and national competitiveness of the bio industry by building a robust ecosystem for AI-based drug development.”
Institut Pasteur Korea is a non-profit research institute established in 2004 as part of the Korea-France scientific exchange. Specializing in infectious disease research, the institute focuses on both fundamental and translational research to develop therapeutics and vaccines. It operates biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratories and drug discovery screening (HTS/HCS) platforms, which enable high-throughput drug discovery and development.
DGIST is a research-oriented university that creates future value for the nation and local communities through convergence research and innovation-driven education. It has identified “Human Digital Twin,” “Physical AI,” and “Quantum Sensing” as its three core strategic focus areas and is actively fostering an industrial ecosystem around these domains to strengthen national competitiveness in science and technology.