FRONTEO and Tokyo Tech Establish Industry-Academia Collaborative Research Center for AI Drug Discovery
FRONTEO Inc. and National University Corporation Tokyo Institute of Science and Technology (Tokyo Tech) established the "FRONTEO AI Drug Discovery Ecosystem Collaborative Research Center" within Tokyo Tech's Yokohama Campus on April 1, 2026. This center aims to integrate FRONTEO's equation-driven AI "KIBIT" with Tokyo Tech's advanced technologies like the PLOM-CON analysis method and reseal cell technology to enable seamless execution from hypothesis generation to experimental verification in AI drug discovery. The goal is to promote the social implementation of cutting-edge technologies in AI drug discovery and foster drug discovery innovation originating from Japan. A signing ceremony was held today, April 27.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 27, 2026 at 23:47
- 🔍 Collected: April 27, 2026 at 15:32
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 27, 2026 at 15:35 (3 min after Collected)
FRONTEO Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Masahiro Morimoto; hereinafter "FRONTEO") and National University Corporation Tokyo Institute of Science and Technology (Location: Meguro-ku, Tokyo; President: Naoto Otake; hereinafter "Tokyo Tech") established the "FRONTEO AI Drug Discovery Ecosystem Collaborative Research Center" (hereinafter "the Center") within Tokyo Tech's Yokohama Campus on April 1, 2026.
The Center will integrate FRONTEO's equation-driven AI "KIBIT"*1 with Tokyo Tech's advanced technologies, such as the PLOM-CON analysis method*2 and reseal cell technology*3, at the same location, enabling seamless execution from hypothesis generation to experimental verification. It aims to promote the social implementation of cutting-edge technologies in the AI drug discovery field and foster drug discovery innovation originating from Japan. Today, April 27, both parties held a signing ceremony.
(Left) Masahiro Morimoto, President and CEO of FRONTEO; (Right) Naoto Otake, President of Tokyo Tech
■ Background of Past Collaborations and Establishment of the Center
FRONTEO and Tokyo Tech have deepened their collaboration since 2022, including joint research on disease structure analysis and drug target discovery*4,5. Building on these achievements, the Center was established to fully engage in collaboration from basic research to social implementation.
■ "Hypothesis-Verification Loop" in Drug Discovery Realized by the Center
To make the current drug discovery ecosystem competitive, it is necessary to organically link AI-driven target molecule*6 discovery and hypothesis generation (dry research) with experimental verification using cells and living organisms (wet research).
At the Center, FRONTEO will use its AI "KIBIT" to extract candidate drug discovery target molecules and construct hypotheses for their mechanisms of action (dry research), while Tokyo Tech will promptly conduct experimental verification (wet research). Furthermore, by feeding experimental results back into AI analysis, a high-level "hypothesis-verification loop" will be realized, aiming for a dramatic improvement in the success rate of drug discovery.
■ Creation of New Value through the Center
The Center is expected to create value for universities by building mechanisms to connect research outcomes to social implementation, for the pharmaceutical industry by acquiring high-quality drug discovery seeds based on advanced understanding of mechanisms of action and biological understanding, and for society by creating innovative therapies and pharmaceuticals.
Joint research will target disease areas with high unmet medical needs*7, including the oncology field. For promising drug discovery seeds found through the research, development with a view to out-licensing*8 will be considered. Furthermore, regarding inventions obtained through the research, FRONTEO will discuss with Tokyo Tech to acquire part or all of the intellectual property rights.
■ Innovative Technologies Supporting the Center
【FRONTEO's Technology: Equation-driven AI "KIBIT" Enabling "Non-continuous Discovery"】
FRONTEO's AI drug discovery support service "Drug Discovery AI Factory (hereinafter "DDAIF")" is a service that fuses the knowledge of drug discovery researchers and AI engineers, with "KIBIT" as its core engine.
General natural language processing AI and knowledge graphs infer relationships from continuous connections, such as "A is related to B" and "B is related to C." However, this "continuous discovery" approach makes it difficult to derive new discoveries sought by researchers. "KIBIT" uses a unique equation to predict "non-continuous" relationships between diseases and genes not directly described in papers, and this technology has been patented in Japan, the US, and Europe.
Previous achievements of "DDAIF" include extracting 17 candidate target genes out of approximately 20,000 human whole genes in pancreatic cancer research, and confirming the suppression of pancreatic cancer cell proliferation in 6 genes through in vitro testing. Additionally, the "target molecule discovery" process, which traditionally took about two years, was shortened to two days.
【Tokyo Tech's Technology: "PLOM-CON Analysis Method" and "Reseal Cell Technology"】
Tokyo Tech is one of Japan's leading research institutions, having been certified as an International Top Research University*9 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in January 2026. The research group of Specially Appointed Professor Masayuki Murata and others at the university possesses innovative advanced technologies in cell science.
● The "PLOM-CON analysis method" is a technology that elucidates cell states based on quantitative, qualitative, and spatiotemporal (localization) changes in proteins within a single cell. While conventional static analysis is an approach of "looking at points," PLOM-CON detects changes in cell states at early (prodromal) stages of disease through dynamic network analysis that "looks at the fluctuations of the entire system," enabling the discovery of new targets and the elucidation of mechanisms of action.
● "Reseal cell technology" temporarily opens the cell membrane to physically replace internal proteins and factors.
The Center will integrate FRONTEO's equation-driven AI "KIBIT"*1 with Tokyo Tech's advanced technologies, such as the PLOM-CON analysis method*2 and reseal cell technology*3, at the same location, enabling seamless execution from hypothesis generation to experimental verification. It aims to promote the social implementation of cutting-edge technologies in the AI drug discovery field and foster drug discovery innovation originating from Japan. Today, April 27, both parties held a signing ceremony.
(Left) Masahiro Morimoto, President and CEO of FRONTEO; (Right) Naoto Otake, President of Tokyo Tech
■ Background of Past Collaborations and Establishment of the Center
FRONTEO and Tokyo Tech have deepened their collaboration since 2022, including joint research on disease structure analysis and drug target discovery*4,5. Building on these achievements, the Center was established to fully engage in collaboration from basic research to social implementation.
■ "Hypothesis-Verification Loop" in Drug Discovery Realized by the Center
To make the current drug discovery ecosystem competitive, it is necessary to organically link AI-driven target molecule*6 discovery and hypothesis generation (dry research) with experimental verification using cells and living organisms (wet research).
At the Center, FRONTEO will use its AI "KIBIT" to extract candidate drug discovery target molecules and construct hypotheses for their mechanisms of action (dry research), while Tokyo Tech will promptly conduct experimental verification (wet research). Furthermore, by feeding experimental results back into AI analysis, a high-level "hypothesis-verification loop" will be realized, aiming for a dramatic improvement in the success rate of drug discovery.
■ Creation of New Value through the Center
The Center is expected to create value for universities by building mechanisms to connect research outcomes to social implementation, for the pharmaceutical industry by acquiring high-quality drug discovery seeds based on advanced understanding of mechanisms of action and biological understanding, and for society by creating innovative therapies and pharmaceuticals.
Joint research will target disease areas with high unmet medical needs*7, including the oncology field. For promising drug discovery seeds found through the research, development with a view to out-licensing*8 will be considered. Furthermore, regarding inventions obtained through the research, FRONTEO will discuss with Tokyo Tech to acquire part or all of the intellectual property rights.
■ Innovative Technologies Supporting the Center
【FRONTEO's Technology: Equation-driven AI "KIBIT" Enabling "Non-continuous Discovery"】
FRONTEO's AI drug discovery support service "Drug Discovery AI Factory (hereinafter "DDAIF")" is a service that fuses the knowledge of drug discovery researchers and AI engineers, with "KIBIT" as its core engine.
General natural language processing AI and knowledge graphs infer relationships from continuous connections, such as "A is related to B" and "B is related to C." However, this "continuous discovery" approach makes it difficult to derive new discoveries sought by researchers. "KIBIT" uses a unique equation to predict "non-continuous" relationships between diseases and genes not directly described in papers, and this technology has been patented in Japan, the US, and Europe.
Previous achievements of "DDAIF" include extracting 17 candidate target genes out of approximately 20,000 human whole genes in pancreatic cancer research, and confirming the suppression of pancreatic cancer cell proliferation in 6 genes through in vitro testing. Additionally, the "target molecule discovery" process, which traditionally took about two years, was shortened to two days.
【Tokyo Tech's Technology: "PLOM-CON Analysis Method" and "Reseal Cell Technology"】
Tokyo Tech is one of Japan's leading research institutions, having been certified as an International Top Research University*9 by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in January 2026. The research group of Specially Appointed Professor Masayuki Murata and others at the university possesses innovative advanced technologies in cell science.
● The "PLOM-CON analysis method" is a technology that elucidates cell states based on quantitative, qualitative, and spatiotemporal (localization) changes in proteins within a single cell. While conventional static analysis is an approach of "looking at points," PLOM-CON detects changes in cell states at early (prodromal) stages of disease through dynamic network analysis that "looks at the fluctuations of the entire system," enabling the discovery of new targets and the elucidation of mechanisms of action.
● "Reseal cell technology" temporarily opens the cell membrane to physically replace internal proteins and factors.