[Special Stock] Lunit's Cancer Conquest Solution Coveted Overseas... Secures 50% of Global Market Access

New KOSDAQ Listings... Attractive Lower Valuations in IPO Pricing
Era of Personalized Cancer Treatment... Technologies Enhancing Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Response Rates

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Lunit is showing strong performance on its first day listed on the KOSDAQ market.

As of 9:28 a.m. on the 21st, Lunit is trading at 34,700 KRW, up 12.66% from its opening price.

It started trading slightly above the public offering price of 30,000 KRW at 30,800 KRW. Lunit set its public offering price at 30,000 KRW, which was lower than the expected price band of 44,000 to 49,000 KRW, after recording a demand forecast competition rate of 7.10 to 1 from institutional investors.

Lunit, established in 2013, is a company developing AI-based medical imaging diagnostic and treatment platforms. Its main products include the AI imaging analysis solution for cancer diagnosis, ‘Lunit INSIGHT,’ and the AI biomarker platform for cancer treatment, ‘Lunit SCOPE.’

Based on its AI technology, Lunit became the first domestic healthcare company to receive AA ratings from all evaluation agencies in the technical evaluation for KOSDAQ’s special technology listing. It has partnerships with global major medical device companies such as GE Healthcare, Philips, and Fujifilm, supplying products to over 600 medical institutions worldwide.

Kiwoom Securities analyzed Lunit as an undervalued buying opportunity from a mid- to long-term perspective, considering the global market situation and solid fundamentals. The core competitiveness was identified as AI technology capabilities and medical expertise recognized in overseas markets.

Researcher Hyemin Heo of Kiwoom Securities explained, "The confirmed public offering price of 30,000 KRW is about 40% lower than the upper limit of the expected price band," and added, "Concerns arose due to the tradable volume immediately after listing (4.67 million shares, 44%) and the burden of continuous operating losses."

She continued, "Considering the global market situation and solid fundamentals, this is rather an undervalued buying opportunity from a mid- to long-term perspective."

Researcher Heo emphasized, "Global companies such as PathAi, Paige, Viz.ai, and Heartflow have all been valued at over 1 billion USD in Series C and D stages," and "With FDA approvals and NTAP (public medical fee) applications emerging, conditions are being created for sales to be generated within the formal regulatory framework."

She expressed expectations, stating, "The expected sales of 20.7 billion KRW this year represent a 213.6% increase compared to last year," and "Continuous sales growth of INSIGHT through additional partnership contracts, research sales of SCOPE through a research contract with Guardant Health, and future CDx (companion diagnostics) contracts through FDA approval can also alleviate performance concerns within two years." Researcher Heo judged that the contract with Guardant Health is significant because it prevents competitors from entering the tissue biopsy field during the contract period and secures Guardant Health’s extensive pharmaceutical and hospital distribution channels.

Lunit INSIGHT is a solution that assists diagnosis of lung diseases (CXR) and breast cancer (MMG) based on imaging. It has proven diagnostic accuracy through over 100 papers and academic conferences. Early diagnosis is possible for about 50% of lung and breast cancer patients. Lunit SCOPE is a personalized cancer treatment solution through biomarker discovery. Its goal is to increase the immune checkpoint inhibitor response rate (ORR) from about 20-30% to over 50% by patient selection. Currently, joint research is underway with Guardant Health, the global leader in liquid biopsy.

Researcher Heo analyzed, "About 50% of the global sales channels have been secured," and "In the market size of medical devices sold annually (80,000 units per year) and images interpreted annually (1.7 billion images), the market share of devices equipped with Lunit products is about 1%." She added, "The market upside is very large going forward," and "Recently, the registration of competitors’ imaging-based diagnostic solutions for NTAP (public medical fee) has created a favorable market environment."

Sales channels for AI diagnostic software are divided into sales through embedding in medical devices such as X-rays and pay-per-image installation within each hospital’s PACS system. Lunit has completed or is in progress with contracts with competitive global companies in both sales channels, securing an advantage in sales channels compared to competitors. It has signed contracts with three of the top five companies in the global X-ray medical device market. It is also reported that the contract with Hologic, the number one company in the mammography device market, is in its final stages.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.