[2025 The CEO of Jeju National University Early-Stage Startup Package Deep Tech Selection] Jungwhoi Lee, CEO of DiaBlood

DiaBlood is a company that designs and validates anticancer drugs and rare-disease therapies using AI systems to accelerate development

-Led by CEO Jungwhoi Lee, who earned a PhD in Brain Engineering from KAIST and has over 10 years of research on brain tumors and pancreatic cancer

-Known for developing more effective anticancer drugs faster

DiaBlood leverages AI to design and validate anticancer and rare disease therapeutics. The company aims to accelerate the development of promising cancer and rare-disease treatments. CEO Lee founded the company in October 2023.

“I earned my PhD in brain engineering at KAIST and have conducted over a decade of research on brain tumors and pancreatic cancer. Recently, I studied prominent anticancer targets and published results in overseas top-tier journals, which led me to start this venture. In 2019, overseas research teams spent years studying hypoxia-inducible factor 1A (HIF-1α) and won a Nobel Prize, through my work I realized that HIF-1α can be expressed and sustained under specific conditions, making cancer more aggressive. I aim to develop drugs that neutralize this action.”

DiaBlood’s competitive edge lies in using AI systems to rapidly design and validate anticancer and rare disease therapies.

“Our goal is to develop effective anticancer drugs and license the technology to major pharmaceutical companies, exploring multiple pathways for commercialization. Since we are at the early stages, we plan to actively pursue funding starting next year.”

How did the founder start the company? “While pursuing my PhD at KAIST, entrepreneurship naturally came to mind. The area I’m best at is drug development. We are using initial funding from the Startup Package effectively and efficiently.”

Future plans, “Develop effective anticancer drugs to help more people beat cancer, and give back the benefits I received at KAIST to society.”

Establishment date : October 2023
Main business : Anticancer drug development / Anticancer MD cream development
Achievements : First anticancer drug development completed

reporter jinho lee
jinho2323@hankyung.com