(Sharecast News) - Digital chemistry data company DeepMatter has signed a licensing and collaboration agreement with Korean workflow artificial intelligence (AI) drug discovery company Standigm, it announced on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the first stage was expected to generate revenues of £0.23m, adding that it was now "actively working" towards broadening the scope of the agreement in the three-year term.

It said it would provide access to its proprietary data and algorithms via its data and laboratory integration platform.

That, DeepMatter said, would enable Standigm to be more efficient and productive in its drug discovery programmes through "deeper" data insights and analysis.

DeepMatter and Standigm would collaborate to develop further AI-driven drug discovery capabilities, drawing on the group's deep digital chemistry expertise.

"This is a strategically important development for us, delivering the first step in what we anticipate will be a productive and long-term partnership," said chief executive officer Mark Warne.

"This is also the first major contract for our integrated platform which provides a combination of proprietary data, algorithms and laboratory hardware integration.

"We are delighted that Standigm, as a leading AI-driven drug discovery company, will be our first partner in east Asia - one of the world's largest pharma markets."

At 1505 GMT, shares in DeepMatter Group were down 2.13% at 0.23p.