A.CURE is an AI healthcare corporations that detects and manages heart disease early through the human voice. CEO Jeong Kyung-ho(photo) founded the company after collaborating with a physician with whom Jeong had worked on a project while at Hanmi Pharmaceutical. When the co-researcher won an award at the American College of Cardiology for voice-based heart failure prediction research, the company moved to commercialize the technology in earnest.
Jeong said, "The concept of digital therapeutics has advanced, but there were almost no cases of actual products," and "We aimed to create practical Digital Healthcare products by combining clinical experience with research and development capabilities."
The name A.CURE carries the meaning of "AI to cure." The company aims to build a platform that detects diseases using voice data based on artificial intelligence technology and enables medical staff to manage patient conditions in real time.
The flagship product, "Heart to Voice," is a solution that analyzes a user's voice to classify heart failure risk into four levels, improving diagnostic efficiency in clinical settings. The key is detecting subtle changes that appear in the voices of heart failure patients.
When heart failure occurs, congestion develops in the lungs, which changes the frequency and resonance patterns of the voice. AI analyzes these changes to quantify the level of risk. Users can record simple utterances like "Daehanminguk manse" and "a, e, i, o, u" via a smartphone or telemedicine system.
Jeong explained, "Heart failure is not a disease that can be diagnosed with a single test like hypertension or diabetes," and "You need a combination of tests such as blood tests, echocardiography, and CT, and the process is complex and costly, making early screening difficult."
A.CURE's technology supplements these limits and helps primary care institutions identify patients for early suspicion. The technology currently shows about 90% accuracy, and the company is conducting a phase-two clinical trial to raise it to 95%.
Out of a total of 124 subjects, clinical trials for 50 had been completed as of Sep. Jeong emphasized, "Heart failure is difficult to manage, with a readmission rate of 50% within one year after discharge," and "Post-diagnostic monitoring is as important as treatment."
Heart to Voice provides medical staff with patient-specific reports and patients with personalized alerts on exercise, diet, and medication. This supports continuous management after diagnosis and helps prevent recurrence.
A.CURE is also envisioning a "heart risk management service" model that can be used not only in medical institutions but also in non-medical settings such as nursing facilities and senior residences. It plans to expand into a health monitoring service for high-risk groups aged 50 and older, providing a preventive care system to populations with low medical accessibility.
The company is currently targeting confirmatory clinical trials with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in the first half of next year and medical device approval in the second half. Jeong said, "If we use the innovative medical device track, we can shorten the approval period from the existing 300 days to around 80 days," and "We will move up the commercialization timeline as much as possible."
On the investment side, the company is growing quickly at the seed stage. It has raised a cumulative investment of about 500 million won from institutions including the Incheon Center for Creative Economy and Innovation.
A.CURE plans to expand its disease portfolio beyond heart failure to include chronic pulmonary diseases. Jeong said, "Voice data contains complex information about the body's condition," and "We can expand into various areas, including respiratory diseases and mental health, beyond the cardiovascular system."
The company will also step up its overseas push. After completing approvals in the second half of next year, it will target four priority markets—the United States, Japan, China, and Singapore—and will pursue full-scale overseas business starting in 2027. The United States has a large number of heart failure patients, China offers a large population-based market, and Singapore has a favorable regulatory environment, the company said.
Jeong said, "The era when health can be managed with just the voice is not far off," and "We will build a Digital Healthcare ecosystem that patients and medical staff alike can trust by combining AI with medical data."