Lunit, a medical AI developer, received the highest ratings in the regulator’s technology assessment required for listing on the Kosdaq market.

The announcement came shortly after the company presented the results of four new clinical trials at the meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

On Monday, Lunit said it passed the regulator’s technology assessment by receiving “AA-AA” ratings, required to debut on the stock market under the regulator’s technology exception policy.

Lunit CEO Suh Beom-seok says his company will continue to expand R&D.
Lunit CEO Suh Beom-seok says his company will continue to expand R&D.

It  is the first time a local healthcare company receives “AA-AA” ratings in technology evaluation.

The Korea Exchange’s (KRX) technology exception policy allows a company with superior technology to go public easily. To pass the evaluation, the company has to receive at least “A” and “BBB” ratings from two institutions designated by KRX.

Lunit said it received “AA ratings” from Korea Enterprise Data (KED) and E Credible, the two technology rating agencies designated by KRX.

Based on these results, the company plans to apply for a preliminary review for listing in the second half, it said.

Established in 2013, Lunit develops AI medical devices for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The company obtained the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s approval for three devices – Lunit Insight CXR Nodule for auxiliary lung nodule detection, Lunit Insight CXR MCA for supplementary chest abnormalities detection Lunit Insight MMG for auxiliary breast cancer diagnosis.

Earlier in the poster session during ASCO 2021, Lunit’s presentation of four study results drew much attention.

The company’s study using an AI biomarker to predict a high risk of breast cancer in mammography was selected as a poster discussion session.

ASCO selects only about 20 percent of all presentations as poster discussion sessions.

Lunit's research team thought there could be a specific pattern of cancer-causing breast tissue in breast cancer patients. The research team named data from the unaffected breast of a patient with breast cancer as “high risk” and breast tissue data from non-cancer patients “normal.” Then, the researchers trained the AI to learn the data algorithm.

After verifying with more than 4,000 pieces of external data, Luni’s AI could distinguish high-risk and normal tissues with high accuracy, the research team said.

“I’m glad that our AI technology and growth potential were recognized in technology assessment,” said Lunit CEO Suh Beom-seok. “We will continue to expand our R&D and business so that we can make new criteria for effective diagnosis and treatment of cancer.”

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