Lunit said on the 16th that it signed a collaboration agreement with Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo to develop new cancer drugs.
Under the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo will work with Lunit on drug development from the early stage of developing two new anticancer drug candidates by using Lunit's immuno-oncology response prediction AI platform, "Lunit Scope."
Lunit will first apply its immunohistochemistry (IHC) quantitative analysis solution, "Lunit Scope uIHC (Universal IHC)," to Daiichi Sankyo's anticancer drug development project. The company plans to improve the quantitative analysis accuracy of conventional IHC tissue tests through this.
It will also use the immunophenotyping solution "Lunit Scope IO" to precisely analyze immune phenotypes and immune cell distribution in the tumor microenvironment. The analysis results will be used to identify the characteristics of the drug candidates and to establish clinical strategies.
Through this collaboration, the two companies plan to pursue: ▲ discovery of new AI-based biomarkers ▲ strengthening translational and clinical trial capabilities for new cancer drug development ▲ improving clinical trial efficiency by selecting patient cohorts using AI.
Daiichi Sankyo, the developer of the global blockbuster antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) "Enhertu," has multiple next-generation anticancer drugs in its pipeline.
Lunit is currently discussing the adoption of Lunit Scope in the anticancer drug development process with 15 of the world's top 20 pharmaceutical companies. The company expects this agreement to increase the likelihood of additional collaborations with global drugmakers.
Seo Beom-seok, CEO of Lunit, said, "If last year's collaboration with AstraZeneca targeted a cancer drug already on the market, this agreement is the first case of introducing AI at the early stage of new drug development," adding, "It will serve as a starting point for the full-scale adoption of a new drug development approach based on AI biomarkers."