[Edaily Reporter KIM JI-WAN ] Psomagen, Inc.(950200) ’s role has expanded in a project by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)—founded by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan—to train biological artificial intelligence (AI) using 1 billion cells. Psomagen, Inc. initially expected to split the analysis workload equally with its competitor, Novogen, but stated that as the project has progressed, it has been handling a larger share of the work.

E-Daily conducted a direct written interview with Psomagen, Inc.’s U.S. headquarters on the 4th. Psomagen, Inc. CEO Hong Su and members of the operational team provided the responses.

A Psomagen, Inc. representative stated, “We understand that Psomagen, Inc. is currently handling a significantly larger volume of work.”

This increase in volume has also led to a new contract. Psomagen, Inc. secured an additional single-cell analysis contract worth $3.72 million (approximately 5 billion won) from CZ Biohub, a subsidiary of CZI. This is the second contract Psomagen, Inc. has secured since first participating in the “Billion Cell Project” in April of last year. This single contract accounts for approximately 9% of Psomagen, Inc.’s revenue of $41.6 million (55.7 billion won) last year.

CZI is examining 1 billion cells to identify targets for new drugs. By analyzing which genes are active in each cell and to what extent, and then training AI on this data, researchers can gain clues as to which genes to regulate first in order to restore cells whose functions have been altered by disease. This is because the genes that are actively expressed differ from cell to cell, even within the same tissue. If multiple cells are mixed together for analysis, changes occurring in only some cells get lost in the average. It’s similar to how it’s difficult to tell which student’s grades have changed by looking only at the class average.

The “single-cell analysis” undertaken by Psomagen, Inc. involves determining which genes are active and to what extent in each individual cell. CZI aims to train AI using the data collected in this way to find clues for restoring cells whose functions have been altered by disease. For example, if the AI predicts that regulating the activity of a specific gene brings a cell closer to a healthy state, researchers can test whether it’s worth developing a drug targeting that gene. CZI plans to make the data available to researchers worldwide. The following is a Q&A.

―Out of 1 billion cells, how many will Psomagen, Inc. actually analyze?

“One billion is the overall project goal. Psomagen, Inc. and Novogen are participating as data-generating partners. Initially, we expected the two companies to each handle about half. From what we understand, Novogen’s performance has fallen short of initial expectations, and Psomagen, Inc. is currently handling a much larger volume. However, there is no official documentation stating that the work was split evenly from the start. Since the overall project structure and the allocation of work among institutions fall under CZI’s purview, it is difficult to disclose specific figures.”

―What work does this 5 billion won cover?

“It is a contract to provide single-cell analysis services required for CZI’s Billion Cell Project. We first undertook analysis for this project in April of last year, and we have now signed an additional contract worth $3.72 million (5 billion won) for the same project.”

―If both companies use the same equipment, what are the differences? Was the price of the analysis the deciding factor?

“The UG100 is a device sold by Ultima Genomics. JINDO.CO.,LTD has also adopted this device to provide services. Using the UG100 reduces the cost of sequencing genetic information, which helps with price competitiveness. Psomagen, Inc. has received official certification as a service provider from Ultima and has experience producing large-scale single-cell data using this equipment. In large-scale projects, evaluations also consider data quality, delivery times, and how previous contracts were executed. In particular, I believe CZI highly valued our ability to complete the work according to the agreed-upon schedule and our customer service.”

―Can we expect a third contract? What other projects might you take on next?

“CZI has not disclosed when the project will end. Since the scale could expand depending on the project’s progress, it is difficult to provide a specific figure right now regarding how many more contracts we will secure. Among the topics currently under discussion is a plan to utilize Psomagen, Inc.’s other analytical platforms—in addition to the Ultima equipment—for this project. We believe that the fact the first contract led to a second one confirms the client’s trust in us. We remain highly optimistic about the possibility of additional contracts in the future.”

―Apart from CZI, where else is there a need for this type of cellular data?

“Demand for single-cell analysis is growing across the board—from pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing new drugs using AI to university and hospital research laboratories. Psomagen, Inc. is also receiving a steady stream of inquiries and projects related not only to single-cell analysis but also to spatial biology. Through the CZI project, we have built a track record of reliably generating data from large numbers of cells. We expect this experience to be helpful when other clients are looking for a company to handle large-scale analyses.”

Spatial biology is a field that examines the precise location of cells within tissues. Taking cancer tissue as an example, single-cell analysis can identify which immune cells are present, while spatial analysis can determine whether those immune cells are embedded among cancer cells or remain on the periphery. With the addition of location data, researchers can study how even cells of the same type react differently depending on their surrounding environment.

―Which business segments do you expect to drive revenue and profits next year?

“Last year, we succeeded in turning a profit on a standalone basis for the first time since our IPO. We believe that large-scale, long-term projects such as GP2 and CZI will continue to serve as a stable revenue base next year. In addition, we expect profitability to improve as the proportion of high-value-added analytical services for pharmaceutical and biotech companies increases. In the single-cell and spatial transcriptomics analysis sectors, we plan to launch services in North America by adopting 10x Genomics’ new platform, ‘Atera,’ at an early stage.”