[Courtesy of MedySapiens]
South Korean biotechnology company MedySapiens, which specializes in detecting rare diseases in newborns using artificial intelligence-based genomic data, is looking to go global.
“We were selected for a program jointly organized by Taipei Medical University (TMU) and a local accelerator and will receive specimens to evaluate newborns at high risk for rare diseases,” MedySapiens’ Kang Sang-goo said.
Kang explained that services that are limited to the Korean market are “insufficient” because the company believes securing a wider range of rare disease genomic data is necessary to “meet the urgent needs of healthcare professionals and parents of ill children”.
MedySapiens has been developing diagnostic systems in collaboration with major Korean hospitals as it5 aims to minimize the newborns’ physical pain as well as ensuring that medical treatment is provided at the optimal time. The company developed a technology that simultaneously and accurately tests for 220 rare diseases using a small amount of blood in a comparatively short time.
The company decided to actively engage in securing multiethnic genomic data for rare diseases from 2024 onwards. Although clinical experience is critical to diagnosis, rare diseases are often difficult to diagnose accurately due to their low prevalence.
But MedySapiens can now access data from six TMU-affiliated hospitals via the “TMU X BE Cohort & Accelerating” program jointly supported by TMU and Taiwanese medical technology company BE Accelerator. Taiwan is known to have almost ten times more rare disease patients per capita than Korea, and MedySapiens expects its Taiwanese partnerships will be the first step towards potential expansion into the wider Asia-Pacific market. The company has agreed to secure approximately 200 samples per year starting in May 2024 and is currently in the middle of Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval procedures.
The Korean company participated in the government’s economic mission to the United States in early April 2023, where it signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a joint venture with Sharp Hospital, one of the West Coast’s largest hospitals. The company has now formed a US subsidiary and is in the process of opening a laboratory as well as obtaining IRB approval within the hospital.
Kang noted that the company observed great interest and expectation for the rare disease data accumulated within Korea and the AI diagnostic solution, adding that the company will continue to expand to other continents. “Once we confirm the clinical effectiveness in Taiwan and the United States, we plan to expand our services to countries that are considering support for rare disease patients, including Europe and the Middle East.”
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