“The ultimate goal is to conquer cancer by detecting it early with artificial intelligence (AI) and developing cancer treatments with AI biomarkers.”

Baek Seung-wook, Chairman of the Board of Lunit, a medical AI company, stated in a recent interview with this publication at Lunit's headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, “We are focusing on technologies where AI can contribute to cancer patients, from screening to treatment, and reducing the risk of recurrence.”

Lunit, founded in 2013 by Baek and six doctoral students he met at the KAIST hip-hop club, has concentrated on healthcare, particularly cancer. As a result, they developed AI for diagnosing lung and breast cancer, which have the highest incidence rates (Lunit Insight), and an AI platform predicting patients' responses to cancer treatments (Lunit Scope). Lunit's technology can detect lung and breast cancer signals with 97-99% accuracy without the aid of radiologists and predict which components of anticancer drugs will be effective for each patient.

This is also gaining traction overseas. As of the end of last month, the number of medical institutions adopting Lunit Insight surpassed 10,000 in 65 countries worldwide. Last month, they began co-developing next-generation medical AI solutions with Microsoft (MS) and are expanding their overseas business to the U.S., the Middle East, and Europe through Volpara Health, a global breast cancer screening company acquired last year.

Lunit's ultimate goal is to conquer cancer. Detecting cancer early can lead to a cure, and using treatments tailored to the patient's characteristics can increase survival rates. Baek emphasized, “AI allows for more accurate cancer screening,” adding, “The earlier cancer is detected, the less need there is for expensive anticancer drugs, reducing overall treatment costs.” Lunit has even detected cancer by interpreting X-rays taken three years before a lung cancer diagnosis.

Lunit's technology is also utilized in cancer screening programs in numerous countries. Baek stated, “AI cancer screening solutions are part of national cancer screening projects as B2G (business-to-government) ventures in regions like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Australia, and Iceland,” suggesting that South Korea should also consider efficiency through AI cancer screening. He emphasized, “With an aging population, medical expenses are rising while health insurance income is declining. It is time to make medical AI a national agenda.”

Lunit is expanding its scope beyond diagnosis to treatment. Through its anticancer drug AI biomarker solution, 'Lunit Scope,' it is developing companion diagnostic products in collaboration with 15 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies, including AstraZeneca and Genentech. Companion diagnostics involve testing whether a patient matches the target of a specific treatment.

Baek, who recently relocated his work base to the U.S., plans to focus on the North American market this year. To this end, Lunit has recruited Dr. Christopher Austin, a radiology expert from GE Healthcare and AWS Healthcare, as Lunit's Global Medical Director. Lunit is also a founding member of the U.S. government's cancer conquest project, 'Cancer Moonshot.'

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