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Kalis

Category: AI in Healthcare

An AI-powered SaaS drug discovery platform 'PharmaCo-Net' that focuses on 3D protein structure analysis and protein-ligand interactions (PLI) to identify and validate new drug candidates. Kalis was founded in 2020. The company is led by Jae-moon Choi. Based in Daejeon, South Korea. Team size: 10-50. Total funding raised: $30M. Latest round: Series A (Feb 2021) - Kalshi. Key investors include Kingsley Ventures, Daejeon Center for Creative Economy & Innovation, TIPS (South Korea).

Founded
2020
Headquarters
Daejeon, South Korea
Team size
10-50
Total funding
$30M

Value proposition

Significantly accelerates the early-stage drug discovery process by providing ultra-fast, quantitative 3D protein analysis and binding affinity predictions, reducing reliance on expensive and time-consuming manual laboratory screenings.

Products and solutions

PharmaCo-Net (Flagship AI Drug Discovery SaaS), PocketFinder (Active site searching module), AI Dock / Deep Caly Plus (Docking & binding energy calculation), Deep Cisi (Binding affinity measurement), ADMET / ADME Talks (Toxicity & drug property analysis)

Unique value

Combines deep domain knowledge in structural biology with a proprietary SaaS delivery model; famously ranked 1st in the global 'Therapeutics Data Commons (TDC)' benchmark for Caco-2 (cell permeability) prediction accuracy.

Target customer

Biotechnology firms, traditional pharmaceutical companies, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), and academic research institutions.

Industries served

Healthcare AI, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Life Sciences

Technology advantage

Uses coarse-grained graph matching for ligand-pharmacophore estimation, which is computationally faster than traditional atom-level methods while maintaining high accuracy for ultra-large-scale virtual screening.

How they differentiate

Focuses on 'PharmaCo-Net', an AI-powered SaaS drug discovery platform that utilizes proprietary 3D structural graph-matching technology for ultra-fast, quantitative protein-ligand interaction analysis, rather than the traditional pipeline-focused or physics-based simulation approach used by competitors.

Main competitors

Standigm, PharmCADD, HITS, Deargen

Key partnerships

Dt&CRO (디티앤씨알오) - Clinical research collaboration, Aims BioScience (애임스바이오사이언스) - Drug development efficiency MOU, MarkHertz (마크헬츠) - Targeted CAR-T development collaboration, POSTECH (포항공대) - Academic R&D and platform validation, Kyungbok University - Industry-academic talent cultivation (2025)

Notable customers

Dt&CRO, Aims BioScience, MarkHertz, POSTECH

Major milestones

Founded in October 2020 by structural biology expert Dr. Jae-moon Choi, Selected for the South Korean government's TIPS program in 2021, Ranked 1st globally in the TDC benchmark for AI-driven drug property prediction, Secured combined Series A funding of approximately 20 billion KRW (~$15M USD) for Korean and US operations, Announced the commercialization of PharmaCo-Net 2.0 for quantitative protein analysis in 2025

Growth metrics

Achieved 1st place in the global 'Therapeutics Data Commons (TDC)' benchmark for Caco-2 (cell permeability) prediction accuracy; launched PharmaCo-Net version 2.0 with enhanced ADMET and 3D protein analysis features.

Market positioning

Growth-stage AI Drug Discovery (AIDD) platform provider specializing in structural biology and SaaS-based collaborative research.

Geographic focus

South Korea (HQ), North America (via US-based Calici Therapeutics Inc.)

Patents and IP

Proprietary AI scoring algorithms for 3D protein structure analysis and drug candidate screening; research validated through publications in high-impact journals like PNAS and Experimental & Molecular Medicine.

About Jae-moon Choi

Dr. Jae-moon Choi is a structural biology and bioinformatics expert with over 20 years of experience. He holds a Ph.D. in Structural Biology and Bioinformatics from Baylor College of Medicine (2005) and served as a researcher focusing on 3D protein structure analysis using AI. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at Korea University and Chungnam National University. He is the founder of both Kalis (South Korea) and Calici Therapeutics Inc. (USA).

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