South Korea's LG AI Research has joined forces with D&D Pharmatech to develop next-generation peptide drugs using artificial intelligence, targeting a major gap in drug design: creating peptide therapies that patients can swallow instead of inject. The collaboration combines LG AI Research's molecular design technology with D&D Pharmatech's expertise in peptide therapeutics and clinical research, aiming to overcome the digestive system's tendency to break down peptide molecules before they can work.

Why Are Peptide Drugs So Hard to Make Oral?

Peptide therapeutics represent a powerful class of medicines because they can target disease-related molecules inside cells that conventional antibody drugs cannot reach. However, peptides face a fundamental problem: they are vulnerable to degradation in the digestive system, which means they must be injected to be effective. This limitation restricts their use to patients willing to self-administer injections and narrows the range of conditions that can be treated with peptide-based therapies.

By applying artificial intelligence to molecular design, LG AI Research and D&D Pharmatech believe they can engineer peptides that survive the harsh environment of the stomach and intestines, paving the way for oral formulations that could make these powerful drugs accessible to far more patients.

What Technology Are They Bringing to the Table?

LG AI Research, established in late 2020 as a unit of LG Group, has developed the EXAONE family of large language models (LLMs), which are AI systems trained on vast amounts of text to understand and generate human language. The company operates an AI-powered platform specifically designed for pharmaceutical compound discovery, called EXAONE Discovery. This platform uses machine learning to predict how molecular structures will behave, accelerating the identification of promising drug candidates.

D&D Pharmatech brings deep expertise in peptide therapeutics development and clinical research, including work on macrocyclic peptides, a specialized category of peptide drugs with ring-shaped structures that may offer additional stability and efficacy advantages.

"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. 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," said Lim Woo-hyung, chief of LG AI Research.

Lim Woo-hyung, Chief of LG AI Research

How AI Is Transforming Peptide Drug Development

• Molecular Design Acceleration: AI algorithms can evaluate millions of potential molecular structures in days, a process that would take human chemists months or years using traditional methods.
• Stability Prediction: Machine learning models can predict which peptide designs are most likely to survive digestive enzymes, enabling researchers to focus on the most promising candidates.
• Clinical Success Probability: By learning from historical drug development data, AI systems can estimate the likelihood that a candidate will succeed in clinical trials, helping teams prioritize resources on the most viable options.

The market opportunity is substantial. The global proteomics industry, which focuses on analyzing proteins and their functions, reached USD 38.67 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to USD 43.11 billion in 2026, advancing toward USD 82.84 billion by 2032, representing a compound annual growth rate of 11.5%. This expansion reflects growing pharmaceutical investment in precision medicine and biomarker discovery, areas where peptide therapeutics could play an increasingly important role.

"We strive to demonstrate our technological leadership in emerging areas of oral peptide therapeutics, including macrocyclic peptides," said Lee Seul-ki, CEO of D&D Pharmatech.

Lee Seul-ki, CEO of D&D Pharmatech

What Does This Mean for Drug Development?

The partnership signals a broader industry trend toward integrating AI into early-stage drug discovery. Rather than relying solely on traditional laboratory screening methods, pharmaceutical companies are increasingly using machine learning to narrow the search space before expensive and time-consuming experiments begin. This approach can reduce both the timeline and cost of bringing new drugs to market.

The market has responded positively to the announcement. D&D Pharmatech's share price surged 18.01% on the Seoul bourse on the day the partnership was announced, while South Korea's benchmark KOSPI index rose 1.58%, suggesting investor confidence in the potential of AI-driven peptide drug development.

For patients, the implications could be significant. Oral peptide drugs would eliminate the need for injections, improving quality of life and potentially increasing medication adherence. For pharmaceutical companies, successfully developing oral peptides could unlock treatment options for conditions that have been difficult to address with existing therapies, opening new revenue streams and competitive advantages in the drug market.