SANIGEN Co., Ltd.(188260)[Edaily Reporter YU JIN-HEE ] SANIGEN Co., Ltd., a company specializing in microbial molecular diagnostics, is set to make a full-scale entry into the next-generation biopharmaceutical market, expanding beyond the food safety diagnostics sector. SANIGEN Co., Ltd. announced on the 5th that it has been selected as the lead research and development institution for the second-phase follow-up R&D project under the “2026 K-HERO (HERO) Fostering and Support Project,” a key government R&D program organized by the Ministry of Science and ICT and managed by the Korea Industrial Technology Promotion Association.

With this selection, SANIGEN Co., Ltd. is expected to accelerate its entry into the global market for treatments for intractable diseases, leveraging the microbial genomic data and bioinformatics analysis technologies it has accumulated over the years. The selected project is titled “Development of an AI-Based Endolysin Treatment for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacterial Sepsis to Lead the Global Market.” SANIGEN Co., Ltd. will lead the research and conduct full-cycle collaborative research through an industry-academia consortium comprising Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Ewha Womans University, Yonsei University, and Seoul National University. This government-funded project will receive a total budget of 3.58 billion won over the next 42 months, including government grants and corporate contributions.

The core objective of this project is to develop a treatment for sepsis caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria (superbugs), such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). Existing antibiotics cannot keep pace with the rate at which bacteria develop resistance, leading to a gap in new drug development.

As a solution to this problem, SANIGEN Co., Ltd. has focused on “endolysin,” a cell wall-degrading enzyme derived from bacteriophages. Endolysin is regarded as a next-generation modality (treatment method) due to its excellent lysis rate and ability to control biofilms. SANIGEN Co., Ltd. plans to combine its extensive database of antibiotic-resistant bacterial genomes with AI technology to precisely engineer “high-performance hybrid chimeric endolysins”—which offer improved efficacy and stability compared to naturally occurring enzymes—and establish a new drug pipeline.

To ensure the project’s successful completion and rapid entry into clinical trials, SANIGEN Co., Ltd. has established a close collaborative framework with consortium universities. The strategy is to minimize risks in the early stages of new drug development by combining SANIGEN Co., Ltd.’s genomic data analysis capabilities with the universities’ protein design and validation infrastructure. Furthermore, a phased roadmap has been designed in advance to ensure a seamless transition from the research stage to commercialization.

Park Jeong-woong, CEO of SANIGEN Co., Ltd., emphasized, “We have already proven our technological capabilities in the global market by commercializing the world’s first next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based multi-microbial diagnostic panel (GeNext).” He added, “Building on our expertise in the diagnostic field, where we have conducted precise genomic analysis, we will leap forward to become a global biotech company that spans the innovative new drug therapy sector, where we directly design and control proteins using AI.”