Lunit: Transforming Healthcare Through AI
Mission & vision
Founded by six deep-training experts from KAIST University in 2013 and based in Seoul, South Korea, Lunit is a rapidly growing business specializing in medical artificial intelligence. Their mission is to save lives through technology by developing AI that “detects early-stage cancer and optimizes cancer treatment.” Lunit, abbreviated from the term “learning unit,” specializes in medical imaging analytics and data-driven medicine as solutions to one of the leading causes of death. While there have been many medical advancements to help detect cancer, standard screening methods and imaging often only identify large tumors and still miss signs of cancer. As a response to this problem, Lunit is using AI and technology to find new, accurate, and appropriate information about cancer to help fight it. Their motto, “Conquer cancer through AI,” reflects Lunit's mission to make AI-powered medical solutions accessible and beneficial to everyone.
Products & services
Lunit has expertise in creating AI-powered solutions that assist healthcare professionals in accurately interpreting medical images such as X-rays, mammograms, and pathology slides. Their flagship algorithm, Lunit INSIGHT, is trained on chest X-rays and mammography images. It utilizes advanced deep-learning techniques to recognize and analyze patterns within these medical images, thereby aiding in the early detection and diagnosis of various diseases, specifically focusing on lung and breast cancer. Lunit's technology plays a crucial role in identifying early-stage cancer and accurately predicting treatment responses, ultimately improving patient outcomes and empowering more efficient healthcare decision-making. After receiving FDA clearance and the CE Mark, Lunit INSIGHT CXR and Lunit INSIGHT MMG are clinically used in approximately 2,000 hospitals and medical institutions across more than 40 countries. Another flagship product, Lunit SCOPE, is a suite of AI-powered software that analyzes tissue slide images for digital pathology and AI biomarker development, with the aim of optimizing workflow and facilitating more accurate and predictive clinical data for clinicians and researchers. Lunit SCOPE platform offers multiple tissue analysis AI software products and assays that can streamline digital pathology workflow and diagnostics, as well as enhance the drug development process. Lunit SCOPE PD-L1 is CE marked in Europe.
Growth & Impact
With investors like GE Healthcare, Phillips, Guardant Health, and FujiFilm, along with being featured in Forbes, Newsweek, FierceBiotech, and MIT Technology Review, Lunit has established itself as a leading player in the field of medical AI technology to supply products across the globe. With a track record of groundbreaking innovations and a growing portfolio of successful products, Lunit continues transforming how medical professionals diagnose and treat patients.
On top of their revolutionizing technology, Lunit’s global reach has also led to positive change. During the COVID-19 pandemic in France, their technology could evaluate the probability of infection in only 10 minutes, compared to over 12 hours under traditional methods, enabling faster and more effective screening processes. This breakthrough capability has played a crucial role in supporting healthcare systems worldwide, leading to other partnerships with hospitals in Italy, Mexico, and Portugal.
Furthermore, in February of 2023, Lunit announced that it would create a branch based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. CEO Brandon Suh stated, “We expect our establishment of Lunit Europe Holdings to serve as a stepping-stone to increase our profitability by strengthening Lunit's global capabilities and brand awareness.” While Lunit had a specific office dedicated to European affairs and business, building a physical branch opens the door for more expansion and sales opportunities. Additionally, the European medical device market is projected to be worth $136 billion in 2023. Therefore, Lunit plans to capitalize on this opportunity through its expansion and building partnerships within the European market. In addition, they hope to expand even further internationally in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Brazil, India, MENA, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
Certifications & Achievements
Three years after its founding in 2016, Lunit won first place in the Tumor Proliferation Assessment Challenge, beating other notable companies like IBM and Microsoft. Locating small nodules hidden behind ribs or organs in chest X-rays poses a challenge for doctors, but Lunit's algorithm conducts exhaustive searches for cancer patterns, significantly reducing the risk of false negatives or missed cancer cases.
In November 2019, Lunit’s algorithms received a CE Mark, which signifies that their products meet the EU’s health, safety, and environmental requirements, and have been used clinically in Korea, China, Thailand, Mexico, and the United Arab Emirates.
Since then, Lunit's state-of-the-art AI technology has garnered global acclaim, leading to a significant increase in their screening accuracy, reaching close to 99%. This achievement is attributed to their arsenal of over 120 deep-learning patents and access to extensive medical data, which has solidified their unparalleled position in the market. In 2020, Lunit was chosen as the sole Korean company selected as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. Additionally, starting in 2019, the company earned recognition from CB Insights as one of the "Digital Health 150" companies in the field of computer-aided imaging and treatment for three consecutive years. Moreover, Lunit achieved a significant milestone by being the first healthcare company to receive an AA-AA rating from all its evaluators in the technology assessment. This rating is a prerequisite for the special listing track of KOSDAQ, South Korea's electronic stock market. As per Korean reports, Lunit is highly anticipated as one of the leading biotech companies expected to go public on KOSDAQ in the first half of 2022. All of Lunit’s progress has led to unrivaled success and achievements in the healthcare sector and continues to redefine the boundaries of what artificial intelligence can do.
Overall, Lunit's extensive reach as a start-up company in Korea has allowed for a profound impact internationally, bringing AI-powered medical solutions to new countries and improving healthcare outcomes worldwide.
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