MedySapiens, a Korean AI-powered rare disease diagnostics startup, has taken its first step into the US genomic diagnosis service market, accelerating its overseas expansion. 

MedySapiens was one of President Yoon Suk Yeol’s business delegates that visited the U.S. in late April to promote the biotech industry’s growth in both countries. During the visit, MedySapiens signed an agreement with Sharp HealthCare Group, a U.S. not-for-profit regional healthcare group, to establish a joint venture for the genomic diagnostics business. 

The Korean company recently participated in the 2023 BIO International Convention (BIO 2023) in Boston, Mass., for meetings with U.S. investors. 

"In line with the expansion into the U.S. market such as collaboration with Sharp HealthCare, we participated in BIO 2023 to grasp the trend of the U.S. diagnostic market and to attract investment from U.S. investors,” said Kang Sang-goo, founder and CEO of MedySapiens. 

"We were granted a CIC (Cambridge Innovation Center) office by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) and Boston will become a forward base for our expansion into the eastern U.S.," he said.

According to Kang, MedySapiens’ business model of establishing a joint venture with a large U.S. hospital is the first of its kind in Korea.

He said he was confident that the company will succeed in expanding its foothold in the U.S. diagnostic market because it was engaged in direct business with a U.S. hospital.

MedySapiens develops AI solutions for rare disease mutation analysis. Since its establishment in 2017, the company has been focusing on developing technology for diagnosing rare diseases in partnership with leading Korean hospitals. 

In April, it obtained KGMP for manufacturing rare disease diagnostic products. 

Under the agreement with Sharp HealthCare, Medisapiens will open a diagnostic laboratory in San Diego within the year after establishing the joint venture. 

Sharp HealthCare is the largest hospital group in the western U.S., operating 10 general hospitals and a comprehensive research complex in San Diego. 

Sharp HealthCare will provide MedySapiens with laboratory space for diagnostic services at the research complex and will cooperate on patient recruitment and provision of diagnostic tests. 

MedySapiens will provide all costs related to testing equipment and operating personnel, rare disease diagnostic panels and AI-based genetic mutation analysis technology, building and managing patient lifetime management precision medicine database, and new item discovery technology.

On May 30, MedySapiens was named one of the 51 “baby unicorn companies” by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. A baby unicorn company can receive funding for new market development (up to 300 million won), and will receive preferential treatment when applying for special guarantees (up to 5 billion won), policy funds (up to 10 billion won), and R&D (up to 2 billion won). 

Recently, the company was also selected as one of the final 20 companies in the MedTech Innovator Program (Silicon Valley, Singapore), receiving international recognition for its technological competitiveness and business growth potential.