SINGAPORE, May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- WisPaper, an AI-powered academic research platform, today highlighted how AI systems are beginning to influence the earliest stages of scientific exploration. As research fields become increasingly interdisciplinary and publication volumes continue to expand, researchers are placing greater emphasis on tools that can help them navigate unfamiliar domains and identify relevant directions more efficiently.
The Growing Complexity of Research Discovery
Early-stage research often involves exploring broad questions, identifying emerging themes, and understanding how ideas connect across multiple disciplines. This process can require extensive reading, repeated searching, and manual comparison of papers before researchers develop a clear view of a field.
Traditional academic search systems are effective at retrieving documents, but researchers frequently face challenges when trying to explore conceptual relationships, evolving terminology, or loosely connected areas of study.
As scientific knowledge grows more fragmented and specialized, the operational cost of exploration is also increasing.
AI-Assisted Topic Exploration
WisPaper is designed to support literature analysis and research discovery through AI-assisted retrieval and semantic understanding workflows. Its Scholar Agent allows users to search using natural-language research questions and supports filtering based on research intent rather than keyword matching alone.
The platform also includes tools for paper organization, citation management, annotations, and AI-powered feeds that track developments related to selected research interests.
By combining retrieval, filtering, and ongoing literature monitoring within a unified workflow, the system is intended to help researchers move more efficiently through the exploratory phase of research.
Supporting Faster Knowledge Navigation
As AI research systems continue to evolve, many platforms are focusing less on simple document access and more on helping researchers interpret and organize information at scale.
WisPaper reflects this broader transition by emphasizing semantic discovery and workflow continuity during early-stage scientific investigation.
In increasingly complex research environments, reducing the friction involved in finding and evaluating relevant knowledge may play an important role in how researchers generate new questions and explore emerging areas of inquiry.
About WisPaper
WisPaper is an AI-powered academic research agent designed as a full-stack research accelerator. It supports literature retrieval, analysis, experiment design, execution, and paper writing within a unified workflow, helping researchers manage complex scientific tasks more efficiently across disciplines. For more information, visit https://wispaper.ai/?utm_source=news.
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WisPaper Examines How AI Is Changing Early-Stage Scientific Exploration
Collaboration expands research of new delivery platform beyond liver tissues supporting potential preclinical development and strengthens Singapore's position as a biomedical innovation hub
SINGAPORE, May 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) today announced a two-year research collaboration agreement with Singapore's Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi), hosted by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), to accelerate research into complex oligonucleotide (oligo) candidates, a promising frontier in precision therapeutics with potential applications across cardiovascular-metabolic, rare and infectious diseases.
The global oligo therapeutics market exceeded $7 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $18 billion by 2030¹, driven by clinically validated DNA- and RNA-based therapies that continue to face analytical challenges beyond liver-targeted delivery².
Under this agreement, the collaboration will focus on developing end-to-end analytical and preparative workflows to support ligand-conjugated strategies, a new platform designed to extend oligo delivery beyond the liver tissues, unlock access to extrahepatic tissues and expand the therapeutic addressable market.
By combining NATi's extensive expertise in nucleic acid and chemical modifications with Agilent's 1290 Infinity III Bio UHPLC system, InfinityLab Pro iQ Plus mass detector, Preparative HPLC system, 6545XT AdvanceBio Quadrupole Time of Flight LC/MS, and Seahorse XF technologies, the collaboration will enable precise characterization, purification and quality assessment of lipid-modified oligo, a key modality to accelerating more efficient preclinical development.
"Lipid-conjugated oligonucleotides represent a promising next frontier in nucleic acid therapeutics, particularly in expanding beyond hepatic delivery. Working with strategic partners like Agilent allows us to tighten the value chain from research to clinic, accelerating the development of next-generation oligo therapeutics that address areas of significant unmet medical need," said Dr Mohamed ElSayed, Executive Director of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi).
"As oligo-based therapies continue to transform precision medicine, the ability to reliably analyze and purify complex conjugates becomes increasingly critical. Our priority remains to help existing and new biopharma customers accelerate new discoveries through research advancement. This collaboration is yet another example of our commitment to investing in high-growth markets while delivering on Agilent's mission of improving the quality of life," said Bharat Bhardwaj, Vice President of APAC Sales at Agilent.
The agreement includes structured training and access to advanced analytical capabilities at Agilent's Global Solution Development Center (GSDC) in Singapore, along with a broader suite of Agilent analytical instruments.
With more than 25 years of investment in Singapore, Agilent has grown its local presence to about 600 scientists, engineers and skilled professionals and operates an 860,000-square-foot manufacturing facility recognized by the World Economic Forum. The expanding footprint underscores Agilent's long-term commitment to building local scientific capabilities, talent development and strengthening Singapore's position as a leading biomedical innovation hub for the region and beyond.
About Agilent Technologies
Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) is a global leader in analytical and clinical laboratory technologies, delivering insights and innovation that help our customers bring great science to life. Agilent's full range of solutions includes instruments, software, services, and expertise that provide trusted answers to our customers' most challenging questions. The company generated revenue of $6.95 billion in fiscal year 2025 and employs approximately 18,000 people worldwide. Information about Agilent is available at www.agilent.com. To receive the latest Agilent news, subscribe to the Agilent Newsroom. Follow Agilent on LinkedIn and Facebook.
About the Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi)
The Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi) is a national platform based in Singapore and hosted by Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), dedicated to advancing RNA medicines from discovery to early clinical development. NATi combines deep scientific expertise with scalable technology platforms to generate differentiated nucleic acid therapeutic assets. Through close collaboration with industry and public partners, NATi drives translation, enables commercialisation, and strengthens Singapore's capabilities in next-generation therapeutics. Learn more at www.nati.sg.
Media Contacts
Grace Thong
Agilent Technologies
+65 9688 2152
grace.thong@agilent.com
Owen Sia
Agency for Science, Technology and Research
+65 6517 7866
owen_sia@a-star.edu.sg
- MarketsandMarkets. Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Market Size, Growth, Share & Trends Analysis
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/oligonucleotide-therapeutics-market-41710113.html - AlShaer D, Al Musaimi, O, Albericio F, de la Torre BG. 2025 FDA TIDES (Peptides and Oligonucleotides) Harvest. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2026 Jan 30;19(2):244. doi: 10.3390/ph19020244. PMID: 41754785; PMCID: PMC12943124.
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Agilent and Singapore's NATi Partner to Advance Lipid-Conjugated Oligonucleotide Research
