Standigm Inc. (Standigm), an artificial intelligence (AI)-based drug discovery company and SK Chemicals Co. Ltd. (SK Chemicals), a life science and green chemicals company, announced that they have successfully found a new rheumatoid arthritis indication for an FDA-approved drug and have filed a patent. This is the first successful result of their open innovation partnership, formed in July 2019. The research collaboration is aimed at identifying novel lead compounds and repurposing existing drugs for rheumatoid arthritis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, leveraging Standigm’s AI-powered drug discovery platforms: Standigm BEST™, Standigm Insight™, and Standigm ASK™. SK Chemicals has shared their expertise in these diseases and validated the predicted targets and compounds through in vitro and in vivo studies. The compound in the patent was discovered by Standigm Insight™, an AI-aided drug-repurposing platform. In a mouse model with collagen-induced arthritis, it showed comparable or better improvements in its rheumatoid arthritis disease activity score than reference drugs such as methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine. Further research on and development of the compound is ongoing with the objective of completing preclinical studies. As the compound was already approved by the FDA for its original indication, the companies are expecting significant savings in cost and time associated with its pre- or clinical development for the new indication.