Standigm

Standigm Inc. is an artificial intelligence-based drug discovery and development company founded in Seoul, South Korea, in 2015. The company was established by Jinhan Kim, Sang Ok Song, and So Jeong Yun, who were colleagues at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology with expertise in AI and systems biology. Their shared goal was to apply AI to solve complex problems in the pharmaceutical industry, specifically to reduce the substantial time and cost associated with bringing new drugs to market.

Standigm operates on a business-to-business model, primarily serving pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, as well as research institutions, across North America, Europe, and Asia. Revenue is generated through a combination of research collaborations, partnership agreements, and subscription-based access to its AI platforms as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). This model allows partners to leverage Standigm's technology to accelerate their own drug discovery programs. The company has forged significant partnerships with entities like SK Chemicals, Hanmi Pharmaceuticals, Institut Pasteur Korea, and Nashville Biosciences to advance its research and development pipelines.

The company's core offering consists of a suite of proprietary AI platforms that cover the early drug discovery workflow, from identifying new biological targets to designing and optimizing novel therapeutic compounds. Its key platforms include Standigm ASK™, which uses a comprehensive knowledge graph and machine learning to identify and prioritize novel drug targets. Standigm BEST™ is a generative AI platform for designing novel small molecule compounds with desired properties for a specific target. Standigm Insight™ focuses on drug repurposing, finding new indications for existing drugs. More recently, the company launched STELLA™, a platform for molecular optimization, and SPICA™, an AI model that assesses the patentability of new molecular structures. Collectively, these tools aim to shorten the discovery period for new drug candidates from several years to as little as seven months.

Since its inception, Standigm has secured approximately $69.6 million in funding over five rounds, including a significant pre-IPO round, from investors such as SK Chemicals, Kakao Ventures, and Pavilion Capital. A notable milestone was the establishment of a synthetic research center to bring the synthesis of its AI-designed compounds in-house, further improving R&D efficiency. With offices in South Korea, the UK, and the US, the company is expanding its global presence to better collaborate with international partners.

Keywords: AI drug discovery, drug development, target identification, lead generation, compound design, drug repurposing, computational biology, cheminformatics, knowledge graph, generative AI, pharmaceutical technology, preclinical research, small molecule drugs, molecular optimization, biotech partnerships, therapeutic targets, NASH, rare diseases, oncology, fibrosis