Lunit, a Korean medical AI imaging company, is reportedly close to securing a major commercialization contract with a multinational pharmaceutical company for its AI biomarker platform, Lunit SCOPE.
The company confirmed that these negotiations are expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
According to Lunit, Lunit SCOPE’s biomarker analysis services are currently being utilized by more than seven multinational pharmaceutical companies in oncology, and the upcoming contract is expected to involve a company specializing in immunotherapy.
A Lunit spokesperson expressed optimism, stating, “We are working diligently to complete the contract within this year, anticipating positive outcomes.”
While there are no papers related to Lunit SCOPE’s use as a companion diagnostic tool, Lunit has already published numerous research biomarker analysis studies focusing on its key segments within the SCOPE platform, such as IO (Immuno-Oncology), ADC (Antibody-Drug Conjugates), and uIHC (ultra-Low HER2).
Most recently, the effectiveness of Lunit SCOPE as an AI biomarker platform was demonstrated during the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2024 Annual Meeting held at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Ill.,
The study titled, “Identification of HER2 ultra-low based on an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered HER2 subcellular quantification from HER2 immunohistochemistry images,” highlighted the platform’s capabilities.
Lunit SCOPE uIHC, an AI-based immunohistochemistry analyzer, identified HER2 ultra-low expression in breast cancer patients previously classified as HER2-negative.
During that time, Lunit’s Medical Director Ahn Chang-ho told Korea Biomedical Review that while further validation is needed, particularly in demonstrating that patients identified by our AI model respond better to HER2-targeted therapies, the study identified 23.6 percent of HER2 score 0 WSIs as HER2 ultra-low, suggesting a significant subset of patients who might benefit from HER2-targeted therapies.
“Regulatory approval will be essential for clinical integration,” Ahn said.
Additionally, a study published in the Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer demonstrated that Lunit SCOPE IO could predict favorable outcomes for patients with the inflamed immune phenotype undergoing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy across 27 tumor types.
Growing user data pool
Not only has the company published a series of studies regarding the matter, but the Lunit SCOPE user data pool is also growing.
The company stressed that the number of global pharmaceutical research analysis requests for Lunit SCOPE this year had already surpassed 5,000 as of Monday, compared to 1,000 requests in total for 2023.
As of now, samples sent from major pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. and Europe are analyzed through Lunit’s overseas servers, and the results are used solely for research purposes (RUO).
The company believes that the increase is thanks to the platform’s ability to reduce clinical trial costs and improve drug response rates.
With increasing interest and collaboration inquiries from major cancer research institutions, including the nonprofit Friends of Cancer Research (FOCR), the company expects that Lunit SCOPE’s application and impact will expand further, cementing its role in advancing cancer diagnostics and treatment.
“While milestone sales dominated Lunit SCOPE’s revenue until last year, we are now building a more stable revenue structure with RUO sample analyzing contracts,” Lunit CEO Suh Beom-suk said. “Lunit SCOPE is offering new opportunities in the development of various anticancer drugs, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), and its potential commercialization as a companion diagnostic model could significantly boost our sales.”
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