Galux

Galux is a South Korean biotechnology firm that is shifting drug discovery from probabilistic screening to rational, AI-driven design. Founded in 2020 by CEO Dr. Chaok Seok, a professor of Chemistry at Seoul National University with over two decades of experience in protein modeling, the company originated from a deep expertise in understanding biology at the molecular level. Dr. Seok's academic background in protein structure prediction, including participation in the globally recognized CASP competition, forms the scientific foundation of Galux.

The company's core offering is GaluxDesign, a proprietary, modality-agnostic AI platform that integrates physics and artificial intelligence to design protein therapeutics from first principles. This allows for the creation of novel molecules, including antibodies, VHHs, and cytokines, by going beyond conventional data-driven methods. The platform is engineered to address multi-property optimization, simultaneously refining key therapeutic traits like binding affinity, specificity, and stability. A key differentiator is its ability to perform *de novo* design, creating entirely new proteins and antibodies from scratch, which has been successfully demonstrated against multiple therapeutic targets, including those without previously known structures. This enables the company to pursue treatments for targets that are considered "undruggable" by traditional methods.

Galux operates a business model centered on strategic partnerships and co-development. The company collaborates with major pharmaceutical firms such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Celltrion, and LG Chem. In these partnerships, Galux handles the AI-driven design and early-stage validation in its internal wet lab, while its partners manage late-stage clinical development and commercialization. This synergistic approach creates a tight feedback loop between computational design and experimental validation, accelerating the discovery process.

Since its inception, Galux has achieved significant financial milestones, raising $18 million in a Series A round in 2022, followed by a $29 million Series B round in early 2026, bringing its total funding to $47 million. The funding is being used to enhance the GaluxDesign platform, expand its R&D infrastructure, and advance its proprietary drug candidates into preclinical testing.

Keywords: AI drug discovery, protein design, de novo antibody design, therapeutic antibodies, GaluxDesign, biotechnology, Chaok Seok, computational biology, drug development, protein engineering, molecular design, biologics, immunogenicity, affinity maturation, multi-specific antibodies, undruggable targets, preclinical validation, biopharmaceutical, Seoul National University, protein therapeutics