Lunit与Summit Therapeutics合作，用AI病理平台为PD-1/VEGF双抗ivonescimab做生物标志物研究

Lunit (328130.KQ) is partnering with U.S. biotech firm Summit Therapeutics on biomarker research for ivonescimab, a next-generation cancer immunotherapy. The plan is to use artificial intelligence to analyze cancer tissue, identify indicators that predict treatment response and single out patient groups likely to benefit from the drug.
Lunit said on the 26th that it would work with Summit on AI biomarker research for ivonescimab. Biomarkers are biological indicators used to assess disease status and response to drugs. The two companies plan to use Lunit's AI pathology analysis technology to examine features of tumor tissue linked to treatment response.
Ivonescimab is a bispecific antibody that simultaneously targets PD-1, a protein involved in suppressing immune cells' attacks on cancer, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which promotes blood vessel formation. It combines an action that helps immune cells attack cancer with one that curbs the formation of blood vessels supplying nutrients to tumors. Summit holds development and commercialization rights for ivonescimab — developed by China's Akeso — in the Americas, Europe and the Middle East, and is running global Phase 3 trials across a range of cancers, including lung, biliary tract and bladder cancer. It is seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval this year based on Phase 3 results in patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated non-small cell lung cancer.
Lunit and Summit will apply Lunit's AI biomarker platform, Lunit Scope IO, to the research. Using the platform, they plan to analyze hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained slides used in routine biopsies to determine the distribution of cancer and immune cells, the structure of surrounding supportive tissue and the spatial relationships between cells. The company said large-scale analysis is possible with existing tissue slides, without additional staining or separate tests.
Through this work, the two companies will examine the link between characteristics of the tumor microenvironment — formed by cancer cells and the surrounding cells and tissue — and treatment response to ivonescimab. The findings will be used for biomarker discovery, patient stratification, follow-up research and clinical development planning.
"Through Lunit Scope IO, we will quantitatively analyze the characteristics of the tumor microenvironment and support biomarker research related to treatment response," Lunit CEO Suh Beom-seok said. "We will expand the potential for AI pathology technology in global drug development."