Strategic MOU connects AI-driven design with billions of make-on-demand molecules, rapid synthesis and in-house biology, and builds a new scientific bridge between Korea and Ukraine
SEOUL, Republic of Korea, and KYIV, Ukraine, October 7, 2026 – Enamine Ltd., a global leader in chemistry for drug discovery, and the Global AI Drug Discovery Center at Ewha Womans University today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a long-term strategic partnership in AI-driven drug discovery. Signed at a ceremony on the Ewha campus in Seoul, the agreement unites the Center’s expertise in artificial intelligence (AI), computational chemistry and data-driven drug design with Enamine’s synthetically accessible chemical space, rapid synthesis and biological testing. Together, the partners aim to shorten the path from computational hypothesis to experimentally validated hit and lead compounds.
Artificial intelligence can now propose promising molecules faster than ever, but a design creates value only when it can be made and tested. The partnership addresses this gap by building a closed design–make–test–analyze (DMTA) cycle: AI models search within and learn from Enamine’s synthetically accessible chemical space, while prioritized compounds are synthesized and experimentally tested, and the resulting data feed back into the next round of designs.
From algorithm to validated compound
Design within accessible chemical space. Enamine will give the Center access to its catalogues of in-stock building blocks and screening compounds and to its ultra-large REAL (REadily AccessibLe) chemical spaces of make-on-demand molecules for AI-based virtual screening, generative design and model training.
Make virtual compounds real, fast. Molecules designed or selected by the Center can be synthesized rapidly from available reagents, using reactions with experimentally validated reactivity to achieve high success rates and short delivery times.
Test and learn. Enamine’s biology team will profile selected compounds on-site using biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based assays, as well as early ADME studies, providing rapid feedback to refine the AI models.
Sun Choi, Director, Global AI Drug Discovery Center at Ewha Womans University: A major challenge in AI-driven drug discovery is translating computationally promising molecules into compounds that can actually be synthesized and experimentally validated. We have applied our AI and computational drug design capabilities together with medicinal chemistry and biological validation across a range of therapeutic areas. By combining this experience with Enamine’s accessible chemical space, rapid synthesis and biological testing, we aim to create a powerful platform for prospective and iterative drug discovery.
Iaroslava Kos, Director, Business Development at Enamine: Enamine’s chemical space was built to be made, not just imagined. Partnering with Ewha’s Global AI Drug Discovery Center puts that space in the hands of outstanding AI scientists, and we are proud to build a lasting scientific bridge between Ukraine and Korea.
A broad platform for long-term cooperation
Beyond the core design–make–test cycle, the partners will conduct joint research in synthesizability-aware generative design, ultra-large virtual screening, reaction and property prediction, and the generation of high-quality experimental data for model training, and will publish results together. They will also explore integrated drug discovery offerings that take projects from AI-based design to validated hits and leads for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic partners in Korea and worldwide.
The agreement further provides for joint applications to Korean government R&D programs, Horizon Europe and bilateral Korea–Ukraine initiatives; exchanges of faculty, researchers and students; internships and training in AI-driven drug design and in synthetic and medicinal chemistry; and joint symposiums, workshops and seminars. Together, these activities will strengthen the drug discovery ecosystems of both countries and open new opportunities with academic, industrial and governmental partners across Asia, Europe and beyond.