[Press Release, May 1, 2020 / unofficial translation] Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Seeks to Develop AI-based Toxicity Prediction Technology for New Drugs - Technology will reduce product development period and cost by predicting toxicity for potential new drug materials - □ The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (Minister Lee, Eui-kyung) will push the development of toxicity prediction technology that uses big data-based artificial intelligence for new substances used in new medicines and new food ingredients. ○ A total of KRW 7.5 billion will be invested for three years in the research project. ※ Development of advanced toxicity prediction evaluation technology (KRW 4.5 billion): Sungkyunkwan University team led by Professor Kim, Hyung-sik Establishment of a base for next-generation toxicologic pathology diagnosis (KRW 3 billion): Korea Institute of Toxicology team led by Dr. Cho, Jae-woo ○ The main elements of the research project are ▲predicting toxicity based on the similarities in the changes of the chemical structure of the materials and the changes in genes and proteins in the body; and ▲determining the toxicity observed in laboratory animals’ internal organs based on their image data and artificial intelligence. □ The study can be used to assess the safety of humans in various fields, including new medicines, vaccines, and food production that use new ingredients, as well as substances harmful to the environment. ○ When it is put to use, the technology is expected to shorten the development time by nearly three to four years and radically reduce costs by enabling easier and quicker prediction of the toxicity of materials. ○ Foreign countries including the U.S. and Europe have also been conducting toxicity prediction research using artificial intelligence for several years, but they have yet to develop the technology being sought by Korea because their research programs are mainly limited to medical technology and clinical tests. □ The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it expects the development of the toxicology prediction technology will pave the way for Korea’s bio-health industry, one of the "three new growth industries" in the post-COVID-19 era, to grow remarkably.