■ Purpose of Business Partnership

Portrai is a Korean AI-driven biotech venture founded by four current doctors and professors from Seoul National University Hospital and Seoul National University. Portrai possesses a technology that explores complex cellular and molecular mechanisms related to developing drugs by matching tissue distribution images and spatial transcriptomics data in the development of new drugs.

Spatial transcriptomics technology is a cutting-edge biotechnology that allows the identification of the location information of each cell in tissue slice space and performs gene expression profiling for each cell. The technology is well-known for its ability to understand the spatial organization of cells within tissues.

The "PortraiTME" technology provided by Portrai utilizes AI-based image analysis in spatial transcriptomics technology to develop biomarkers through detailed analysis of various cancer cells, including cell types. The two companies will share their knowledge and intellectual property, including AI-related knowledge and regional patents in Japan and Korea, and jointly proceed with providing technology and building an AI service model in Japan. They signed an MOU on November 7, 2019, and plan to cooperate on demand surveys for the new drug AI analysis service, localizing the service in Japan, and managing patents related to the Japanese market.

CEO Lee Dae-seung of Portrai stated that they will make a full-scale market entry into Japan through their technology lineup, including PortraiTARGET (technology for discovering new drug targets) and PortraiMOA (technology for drug distribution and value evaluation). aix aims to strengthen its biotech AI business, recognizing it as a field that is expected to experience rapid development in the future and as a growth area in the AI field.