JBNU laboratory spin-off Hops BioSciences Co., Ltd. (CEO Lee Jeong-hwan, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at JBNU) has been selected as a final recipient of the “Daonda Program,” a global corporate collaboration program. Through this support, the company will begin transforming into an AX (AI Transformation) company that integrates artificial intelligence (AI) across the entire drug discovery process.

The Daonda Program is a joint initiative led by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development, and the French global software company Dassault Systèmes. It supports promising domestic start-ups in leveraging Dassault Systèmes’ technologies, expertise, and global network to enhance their technological competitiveness.

Hops BioSciences, a company specializing in natural product-based drug discovery, has so far developed plant varieties such as hemp and lettuce using CRISPR/Cas9 DNA-free breeding technology. In particular, during the development of a new hemp variety, it reduced THC content by 85% and increased CBD content by 200–400% compared with the control group, as verified by a KOLAS-accredited test report. The company has also secured related intellectual property (IP), including patents and trademarks.

Through this program, the company plans to establish an in silico drug design system using BIOVIA Discovery Studio–based 3D molecular modeling and multi-target docking simulations.

It will also acquire AI and machine learning–based design capabilities, including QSAR and ADME prediction, to accelerate development of a natural product drug pipeline targeting sleep improvement, anti-obesity, and neurological disorders.

AI-based design technologies are regarded as tools that improve R&D efficiency by reducing the time and cost required for identifying candidate compounds, predicting efficacy, and assessing development feasibility.

Hops BioSciences is centering its commercialization on three pillars: global technology transfer (licensing-out, L/O), B2B raw material exports to the Japanese and U.S. markets, and domestic supply of health functional foods. 

Lee Jeong-hwan, CEO of Hops BioSciences, said, “With this selection, we will integrate AI technology into the entire drug development process to transform into an AX company that dramatically reduces development time and costs. We will accelerate growth aiming to expand global licensing and achieve a KOSDAQ listing, and we will actively pursue Pre-Series A investment.”