D&D Pharmatech jumped 18% after partnering with LG AI Research on AI-designed oral peptide drugs. Peptide therapeutics target disease molecules inside cells, but oral delivery remains the key challenge the partnership aims to solve.
Alpha Score of 59 reflects moderate overall profile with strong momentum, strong value, weak quality. Based on 3 of 4 signals – score is capped at 90 until remaining data ingests.
D&D Pharmatech shares surged 18% on the Seoul bourse Wednesday after the company said it would partner with LG AI Research to develop AI-designed peptide drugs. The benchmark KOSPI rose 1.58% on the session.
LG AI Research will contribute its EXAONE Discovery platform, an AI system for designing pharmaceutical compounds, while D&D Pharmatech brings peptide therapeutics expertise and clinical research capabilities, the companies said in a joint statement.
Peptide drugs can hit disease targets inside cells that antibody drugs cannot reach. The limitation is delivery: they are typically injected because the digestive system breaks them down. The partnership aims to use AI to design oral peptide therapies for hard-to-treat conditions, according to LG AI Research.
"This collaboration goes beyond a simple technology introduction, as it represents an effort to develop specialized bio-AI that addresses the complex challenge of drug discovery," LG AI Research chief Lim Woo-hyung said in a statement.
LG AI Research launched in late 2020 as a unit of the LG Group. Its EXAONE family of large language models includes tools tailored for drug discovery. D&D Pharmatech is a Seoul-based drug developer focused on peptide and antibody therapeutics.
"We will work closely together to enhance both the speed and probability of success in developing next-generation peptide drugs through AI-driven protein design technology," Lim said.
D&D Pharmatech CEO Lee Seul-ki said the partnership should improve drug-discovery efficiency and demonstrate the company's lead in oral peptide technology, including macrocyclic peptides. A synthetic drug developer, D&D Pharmatech was founded in 2008 and listed on the KOSDAQ in 2019.
The 18% surge reflected investor expectations that a viable oral peptide candidate would open a large commercial market. Peptide drugs generated around $50 billion in global sales last year, and oral versions could grab a larger share by improving patient compliance. No timeline for a candidate was announced.
LG AI Research is not publicly traded.
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