FRONTEO Opens KIBIT AI Biology Lab, a Center for AI Drug Discovery

Major update of the AI drug discovery support service Drug Discovery AI Factory and full-scale operation of the system that handles the upstream of the drug discovery value chain

Tokyo, Japan, May 13, 2026 - FRONTEO, Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Japan; President & CEO: Masahiro Morimoto; hereinafter “FRONTEO”) has announced the opening of the KIBIT AI Biology Lab, a center for AI drug discovery.

This lab will serve as the core of the four AI drug discovery businesses^*1 and academic collaborations that FRONTEO is developing using its AI drug discovery support service, “Drug Discovery AI Factory” (hereinafter “DDAIF”) and will be the most important base for promoting AI drug discovery projects in the future.
The lab will be staffed by dozens of researchers and AI engineers and will be fully operational, conducting target molecule^*2 discovery and hypothesis generation, which is the most upstream step in the drug discovery value chain.
In this way, FRONTEO will aim to secure discontinuous profit-earning opportunities and accelerate the expansion of its out-licensing^*3 pipeline to pharmaceutical companies, especially in the areas of rare diseases and oncology.

Role of the Lab
(1) Full-scale operation of a system that continuously generates drug discovery innovations, from university collaborations to out-licensing
With the opening of this lab, FRONTEO will fully launch a framework in which it serves as the starting point for driving a series of drug discovery processes: beginning with the use of DDAIF to identify novel candidate target molecules, conduct dry-lab experiments, and verify hypotheses; followed by wet-lab verification involving cellular and animal models through joint research with academic institutions such as Institute of Science Tokyo^*4 and the University of Oklahoma^*5,6 in the U.S.; clinical research; and research and development collaboration with bio-ventures^*7, ultimately leading to out-licensing to pharmaceutical companies.
Discussions regarding out-licensing opportunities are underway with several pharmaceutical companies, and the full-scale operation of this facility will expand discontinuous revenue opportunities.

Drug discovery value chain starting from KIBIT AI Biology Lab

(2) Major update of AI drug discovery support service DDAIF to accelerate R&D for pharmaceutical companies, universities, and bio-ventures
DDAIF will be significantly updated with the operation of this lab. Until now, DDAIF has mainly analyzed literature databases, but in the future, this lab will be able to conduct analyses reflecting the results of wet experiments and clinical trials obtained at collaborative research institutions such as Institute of Science Tokyo and the University of Oklahoma in the U.S., dramatically improving the accuracy of analyses.
By evolving from an AI that only analyzes literature data to an AI that continuously learns dry-lab, wet-lab, and clinical data from the company's own sites and partner institutions, FRONTEO will contribute to the advancement of research and development of partners, pharmaceutical companies, universities, and bio-ventures, and improve the probability of success in drug discovery.

 

Future Developments
With a view to expanding its target areas, expanding its out-licensing pipeline, and establishing multiple bases, FRONTEO will use this lab as a starting point for the following developments.

• Expansion of target areas: Starting with rare diseases and pancreatic cancer^*8, which have been focus areas, FRONTEO will work to expand into other areas in the future, including materials, foods, and cosmetics.
• Expansion of licensing pipeline and acceleration of relationship-building with pharmaceutical companies: With the full-scale operation of the lab, the company aims to expand its licensing pipeline to pharmaceutical companies and accelerate relationship-building with pharmaceutical companies.
• Expansion of research sites: Expand the scale of the company's AI-driven drug discovery research system with a view to establishing multiple sites in the future.

Past Efforts and Role of the Lab
Since launching the FRONTEO Co-Creation Drug Discovery Ecosystem^*9 in May 2025, FRONTEO has conducted co-creation projects with pharmaceutical companies, made a full-scale entry into the U.S. market (strategic partnership with Q Partners LLC of the U.S. ^*10 and joint research with the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine^*5,6), and launched the DDAIF Innovation Bridge, a joint drug discovery ecosystem with bio-ventures^*7. In April of this year, FRONTEO established an industry-academia collaboration lab with the Institute of Science Tokyo^*4, and the company has been working steadily to build a system where drug discovery innovation can occur and innovative drug candidates can be continuously generated.
The KIBIT AI Biology Lab will be the company's most important lab for promoting the AI drug discovery business in the future.

Through this drug discovery ecosystem, FRONTEO will continue to research and develop innovative pharmaceuticals and create new treatment options for diseases for which there is no cure, such as intractable cancer and rare diseases, while contributing to the revival of the pharmaceutical industry as a key industry in Japan after the automobile and semiconductor industries under the philosophy of making Japan a land of drug discovery again.

Comments from Masahiro Morimoto, President & CEO, FRONTEO
Japan's heavy reliance on imported pharmaceuticals is a serious economic challenge, and strengthening drug discovery capabilities is an urgent issue. The opening of this lab is an important milestone in bringing together all of the AI drug discovery initiatives that we have been pursuing to date, and bringing into full operation a system that will play a leading role in the upstream of the drug discovery value chain. To revive the pharmaceutical industry as one of Japan's key industries alongside the automotive and semiconductor industries, we will develop the ecosystem globally starting from this base.

Notes:

*1 four AI drug discovery businesses: DDAIF's four forms: co-creation projects with pharmaceutical companies, strategic business alliances that comprehensively support company-wide drug discovery strategies, in-house drug discovery, and Innovation Bridge connecting bio-ventures.
*2 target molecule: The molecule (gene) that a drug is designed to act upon.
*3 out-licensing: In the pharmaceutical industry, drug development may be conducted either internally or through the acquisition of development and commercialization rights from external organizations. In the latter case, “out-licensing” refers to the granting or transfer of such development and/or commercialization rights by the originating company or institution to a pharmaceutical company.
*4 April 27, 2026, press release: FRONTEO and Institute of Science Tokyo established industry-academia collaborative research base for AI-driven drug discovery, https://www.fronteo.com/news/pr/260427
*5 July 23, 2025, press release: FRONTEO and the University of Oklahoma begin Joint Research into Drug Discovery in the Oncology Field, https://legal.fronteousa.com/resources/fronteo-and-oklahoma
*6 May 13, 2026, press release: The University of Oklahoma confirms inhibition of cell proliferation with a novel candidate target molecule for pancreatic cancer discovered by FRONTEO's AI drug discovery support service, Drug Discovery AI Factory, https://www.fronteo.com/news/pr/20260513_02
*7 February 12, 2026, press release: FRONTEO Launches “DDAIF Innovation Bridge,” Providing Scientific Support for Bio-Ventures Through Its AI-Driven Drug Discovery Support Service “Drug Discovery AI Factory”, https://www.fronteo.com/news/pr/20260212_01
*8 July 23, 2025, press release: FRONTEO Confirms the Cell Proliferation - Inhibitory Effect of Novel Pancreatic Cancer Target Candidates, Identified by its AI Drug Discovery Support Service “Drug Discovery AI Factory”, https://legal.fronteousa.com/resources/drug-discovery-ai-factory-pancreatic-cancer
*9 May 7, 2025, press release: FRONTEO launches “FRONTEO Co-creation Drug Discovery Ecosystem” to make the pharmaceutical industry a core industry in Japan, https://www.fronteo.com/news/pr/20250507
*10 June 25, 2025, press release: FRONTEO Accelerates U.S. Expansion — Signs Strategic Partnership Agreement with U.S.-based Q Partners, a Firm with Strengths in Life Sciences and Technology, https://legal.fronteousa.com/resources/fronteo-and-qpartners

About FRONTEO Drug Discovery AI Factory (DDAIF)

[Reference: Initiatives with pharmaceutical companies and Academia]
https://www.fronteo.com/news/ddaif-list