Bertis wins at MSD summit, unveils AI-powered drug target discovery platform SURF

Bertis, a proteomics technology platform company, announced Tuesday that it won a judges' award at the MSD Health Innovation Summit, co-hosted by Korea MSD and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute. The company also made the first public debut of SURF, its AI-based platform for drug target discovery and validation, at the event.

Eight companies that cleared a preliminary screening competed in the pitching session, and Bertis was the only drug target discovery platform firm among the three companies selected by the judging panel. The company earned high marks for presenting a platform built on proven proteomics capabilities that can improve the efficiency and success rate of drug development.

SURF generates and analyzes data on proteins found on and around cancer cell surfaces to identify new therapeutic target candidates. The platform takes a hybrid approach — combining real experimental data, AI analysis and validation experiments — to address the limitations of conventional in silico, or virtual-prediction-based, methods. It delivers packaged drug target solutions that can be linked to the latest therapeutic modalities, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and bispecific antibodies.

Surfaceome-focused target discovery has emerged as a key area in the global biotech market. Companies such as Disco Pharmaceuticals and Indupro have signed large-scale technology transfer deals with major pharmaceutical companies including Eli Lilly and Amgen, drawing attention to the surfaceome as a critical starting point for next-generation drug development.

Technology platforms that use proprietary AI engines and big data to identify drug targets are regarded as a next-generation core of research and development — dramatically cutting costs and trial-and-error in the early stages of drug development while expanding the potential for technology licensing and joint research with global pharmaceutical companies.

"It is meaningful to have the innovation of our proteomics-based drug target discovery platform recognized in a setting where global pharmaceutical companies and experts participated," said Han Seung-man, chief executive of Bertis. "Going forward, we will expand collaboration on joint research and technology transfer with global pharmaceutical and biotech companies based on SURF."