GC Cell Utilizes Lunit AI Solution in Development of Cell Therapy 'AB-201'

GC Cell announced on the 21st that it has signed a joint research and supply agreement with medical artificial intelligence (AI) company Lunit for GC Cell’s new drug candidate ‘AB-201’.

GC Cell logo [Photo by GC Cell]

Through this agreement, GC Cell plans to conduct retrospective studies on AB-201 using Lunit’s AI biomarker ‘Lunit SCOPE IO,’ which is currently under development. The existing biomarker verification method, immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining, requires humans to assess the human epithelial growth factor receptor (HER)2 marker step-by-step. In contrast, by utilizing the AI platform Lunit SCOPE, HER2 expression levels can be determined through quantified data.

Since AB-201 targets the overexpressed HER2 marker in solid tumors such as breast cancer, GC Cell expects to obtain accurate and reliable data by leveraging Lunit’s AI technology. AB-201 is a cell therapy using a fourth-generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) transgene optimized for activation within natural killer (NK) cells. Compared to conventional NK cells that disappear within 2 to 3 weeks after injection into the patient’s body, AB-201, which has enhanced in vivo persistence, demonstrated excellent cancer cell elimination and tumor suppression in preclinical studies.

GC Cell submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application for phase 1 clinical trials to the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Australian Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) in October. The goal is to simultaneously conduct the first-in-human clinical trials of AB-201 in Korea and Australia to secure clinical results across multiple ethnicities.

James Park, CEO of GC Cell, said, “Recently, collaborations and consortiums such as Cancer X for conquering cancer have been increasing worldwide,” and added, “We will develop AI application technologies for optimal cancer treatment through joint research with Lunit.”

Seobum Seok, CEO of Lunit, also stated, “We will enhance the commercialization potential of innovative new drugs through the convergence of AI and new drug development,” and added, “By utilizing Lunit’s advanced AI technology as GC Cell’s therapeutic predictive biomarker, we expect to enable more precise and rapid development of cancer therapeutics.”

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