Radiopharmaceuticals corporations DuChemBio and brain disease diagnosis and treatment artificial intelligence (AI) corporations Neurophet said on the 23rd that they signed a contract to jointly develop a next-generation degenerative brain disease diagnosis platform that combines radiopharmaceuticals and AI.
The two corporations plan to build a platform that applies AI technology to radiopharmaceutical-based imaging diagnosis for Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. The goal is to reduce patient stay time and improve exam efficiency.
Neurophet will develop software for "AI-based early-diagnosis image generation and analysis" based on patents held by the two corporations. It will also handle the regulatory approval process for the AI medical device.
DuChemBio will apply the software to its Parkinson's disease diagnostic agent "18F-FP-CIT" and to the Alzheimer's disease diagnostic agents "Vizamyl" and "Neuraceq," which it is authorized to sell. It plans to conduct separate clinical trials for this and proceed with additional domestic and overseas approvals for indications and dosages. It did not disclose a specific schedule or details.
For current positron emission tomography (PET) scans to diagnose Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease, patients must wait 90–120 minutes after radiopharmaceutical administration until the drug sufficiently distributes in the brain. Given the high proportion of older patients, the wait time causes significant inconvenience, and the need to improve exam efficiency has been raised due to equipment and staffing constraints.
The technology the two corporations are developing uses an initial image taken immediately after injection, with AI predicting and generating a high-resolution image at 90–120 minutes. The aim is to shorten patient stay time and increase the number of exams in the same time period by more than three to four times compared with current levels. They also plan to include an interpretation support feature in which AI analyzes the degree of radiopharmaceutical uptake and its changes over time to provide clinicians with a comprehensive report.
The platform is structured to apply a single AI technology to both Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease simultaneously. They said it seeks differentiation as a model that develops and commercializes diagnostic drugs with improved usage through AI.
Kim Sang-woo, CEO of DuChemBio, said, "This platform is an attempt to improve the imaging protocol itself with AI," adding, "We will pursue commercialization after domestic and overseas approvals, and also push to enter overseas markets such as the United States and Europe."
Bin Jun-gil, co-CEO of Neurophet, said, "We will focus on developing an AI-converged diagnostic platform that can enhance patient convenience and operational efficiency at medical institutions," and added, "We will expand a business model that combines radiopharmaceuticals and AI software."