Syntekabio, Hanmi Science collaborate to develop COVID-19 treatments using drug repurposing technologies

Syntekabio, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS)-based drug development company, and Hanmi Science, a leading manufacturer of biologics, chemical entities and drugs, have entered into a strategic collaboration to co-develop breakthrough COVID-19 treatments using drug repositioning technologies.

Under the new agreement, Syntekabio and Hanmi Science will investigate the potential efficacy of existing drug candidates against COVID-19, as well as other diseases, utilizing Syntekabio’s proprietary AI drug discovery platform — the DeepMatcher™. The drug repositioning and indication expansion research will see the two companies undertaking clinical development activities while also managing regulatory affairs. Data derived from the research will be used to enable the development of a digital therapeutics platform for clinical practice. Furthermore, Syntekabio and Hanmi Science will work together to drive clinical development of Syntekabio’s proprietary COVID-19 treatment — the Zafirlukast-sulfinpyrazone combination therapy.

"We are confident that our collaboration with Hanmi Science will enable us to accelerate clinical trials and drive critical developments for new promising COVID-19 treatments", said Tyson Kim, CEO at Syntekabio. "Both Syntekabio and Hanmi Science bring a full breadth of high-value capabilities to this partnership to deliver significant outcomes."

The DeepMatcher™ is based on Syntekabio’s proprietary AI platform for small molecule drug candidate discovery. The solution is a 3-dimensional structure-based deep leaning model that searches for the most optimal compound structures that exhibit high binding affinity. The structural flexibility of the protein-compound complex is considered to enhance predictive power, while secondary and off-target analysis is also conducted.

"Multiple therapeutics and vaccines have already received emergency use authorization from regulatory agencies, and Syntekabio’s in-silico simulation solution would be an optimal approach for drug repurposing," added Jongyoon Lim, CEO at Hanmi Science. "This project will be supported by the Lightspeed Task Force initiated by Hanmi Science, and will mark the first time medical contents are presented using the digital therapeutics capabilities of the task force."

The Hanmi Science Lightspeed Task Force was formed on January 5, 2021 with the aim to create innovative business models to help in the fight against COVID-19. It brings together the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, Syntekabio, and other biotechnology companies such as Bioapp, Herings and EvidNet. Herings, a digital therapeutics platform company, will be in charge of clinical trial design, while Syntekabio will be leading the in-silico drug repurposing.

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