Telescope Innovations Corp. a UBC Department of Chemistry Spinoff Company from Professor Jason Hein, announces the successful installation of the first pharmaceutical Self-Driving Lab (“SDL”) in South Korea, delivered to the Korean Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (“KPBMA”) for its new AI-focused R&D training centre in Seoul. The installation, completed only three weeks after the purchase was finalized, highlights the Company’s ability to deploy integrated robotic and analytical systems on ambitious timelines, enabled in part by the Acceleration Consortium (“AC”). Two-time Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry and Telescope Advisor, Prof. Barry Sharpless joined the team on site to mark the installation and discuss the future of chemistry R&D with KPBMA leadership.
A Huge Milestone Toward Practical, Autonomous R&D
“Our work in Seoul is a huge milestone toward making autonomous R&D a practical reality for pharmaceutical innovation,” said Jason Hein, Telescope CTO and a member of the scientific leadership at the Acceleration Consortium. “This installation is a tangible result of a deep, almost decade-long collaboration between universities, industry partners, and government organizations in both Canada and Korea. We’re thrilled to be giving researchers the ability to explore chemical space faster and with greater precision than ever before.”
Self-Driving Labs Exemplify A New Model For Pharmaceutical Development
A Self-Driving Lab is an automated platform that uses robotics, inline analytics, and AI to run and optimize experiments in a continuous closed-loop workflow. By operating nonstop and adjusting parameters on the fly, it completes hundreds of experiments far faster and more consistently than manual work. SDLs can significantly speed up R&D, potentially cutting years from development timelines while significantly lowering costs. Telescope and the AC are widely recognized as world leaders in developing the most advanced Self-Driving Lab systems, with uniquely integrated platforms that enable true closed-loop, autonomous chemical experimentation.
Footage of Telescope’s SDL is available here.
Fueled By Nobel-Prize-Winning Leadership
Telescope’s Senior Scientific Advisor Prof. Barry Sharpless is the only living two-time winner of the Chemistry Nobel Prize, having shaped many of the foundational principles behind modern reaction discovery. Telescope carries this legacy forward through its Self-Driving Labs, to enable researchers to move from molecular discovery to scalable deployment with unprecedented speed, precision, and reliability. Prof. Sharpless joined the Telescope team on site in Seoul for the SDL installation and demonstration. At the facility he offered his perspective on the milestone:
“When you make and break chemical bonds conventionally, there are too many variables to make predictions; too many by-products to move forward. AI is good at predicting trends, but it can only leap over and beyond our biases if the input is right. Providing reliable AI is the gap Telescope is addressing.”
Prof. Sharpless added, “AI is only as good as the chemistry it’s based on, and Telescope’s chemistry is superlative. It’s so exciting for me to participate in making Self-Driving Labs a reality with Jason Hein and his extraordinary team.”
“This milestone signals exactly the kind of global impact that emerges when industry and academia innovate together,” said Sean Caffrey, Executive Director of the Acceleration Consortium (AC). “Through the AC, we’re building a commercialization pathway that speeds up the translation of research into deployable technology. The sale of this self-driving lab is emblematic of the strides that we can make worldwide by bringing intelligent automation directly into the hands of researchers developing the pharmaceuticals we need the most.”
This successful installation marks a pivotal milestone for Telescope, reinforcing the Company’s ability to deploy advanced autonomous R&D systems at speed. Building on this achievement, Telescope will continue expanding its commercial opportunities in pharmaceutical research while opening new pathways in industrial chemistry, energy, and agriculture — sectors where Self-Driving Labs are emerging as one of the most compelling real-world examples of Physical AI.
About Telescope Innovations
Telescope Innovations is a chemical technology company developing scalable manufacturing processes and tools for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry. The Company builds and deploys new enabling technologies including flexible robotic platforms and artificial intelligence software that improves experimental throughput, efficiency, and data quality. Our aim is to bring modern chemical technology solutions to meet the most serious challenges in health and sustainability.
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