바이오스펙테이터

by Sungmin Kim

AI startup Lunit said on 19th that it has completed attracting a strategic investment of $26 million from Guardant Health. The deal, which includes the investment made by Guardant Health and also a groundbreaking collaboration between a liquid biopsy company and a medical AI startup, is intended to help reshape and innovate the precision oncology landscape.

It is an unusual biotech investment for Garden Health, and it is also the first investment.

Lunit has closed its Series C Tranche B funding round with the investment from Guardant Health. Lunit is expected to file for an initial public offering on the Korean Stock Exchange later this year.

At the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2021 annual meeting, Lunit presented that its tissue analysis platform, Lunit SCOPE, was able to find 50% more patients who would respond to immunotherapy, compared to traditional diagnostic pathology.1 Lunit has been presenting its findings at ASCO and American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) since 2019.

"Artificial intelligence is rapidly gaining ground in cancer research and it's exciting to see the excellent progress Lunit has made in developing innovative AI-powered radiology and pathology solutions that have the potential to significantly improve the diagnoses and treatment of cancer," said Helmy Eltoukhy, Guardant Health CEO. "We're very impressed with Lunit's approach and believe this investment will help them advance their important AI work for eventual clinical use. Through this investment, we also expect to utilize their AI platform to usher in new precision oncology products that contribute in a meaningful way to improving cancer care for patients."

"We believe that AI in the field of medicine is an inevitable future to come," said Brandon Suh, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Lunit. "As one of the early starters and front-runners in this new and innovative field, we have been validating the effectiveness of Lunit SCOPE through various studies, and now we are pushing to show its value in clinical research and real practice. We are more than delighted to announce the investment and collaboration with Guardant Health. With our AI technology in tissue phenomics and Guardant Health's commitment to advancing our work, we are looking forward to making impactful changes in cancer diagnosis and treatment."