GC Cell inks deal with Lunit for AI-based cancer treatment

South Korean biotech company GC Cell Corp. said Thursday that it signed a joint research and supply agreement with medical artificial intelligence (AI) company Lunit Inc. for new drug candidate AB-201. Under the agreement, GC Cell will conduct a retrospective study of AB-201 using Lunit SCOPE IO, an AI biomarker that Lunit is developing. Whereas immunohistochemistry (IHC), one of the commonly used testing methods to identify biomarkers, is based on human judgment of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in stages, research techniques using the Lunit SCOPE platform, an AI tech platform for pathology analysis, can determine HER2 gene expression via quantified data.

As AB-201 targets HER2 genes that are overexpressed in solid tumors such as breast cancer, GC Cell is looking to obtain reliable data by using Lunit’s AI technology. AB-201 is a cell therapy using a fourth-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) transgene that optimizes activation in natural killer cells. It maximizes persistence in the body, showing excellent effects in cancer cell removal and tumor suppression Compared to conventional natural killer cells.

GC Cell submitted a phase 1 investigational new drug application (IND) for AB-201 to the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Australian Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) in October 2023. “The world has recently seen an increase in collaborations to conquer cancer,” GC Cell chief executive officer James Park said. “We see this agreement as an opportunity to make preemptive moves in line with digital transformation trends, including AI application for optimal cancer treatment.”

By Kim Jee-hee and Choi Jieun

SOURCE: Pulse