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news.Lunit and Summit Therapeutics have entered a research agreement to assess the Lunit SCOPE IO AI pathology platform for analysing the tumour microenvironment across immuno-oncology programmes evaluating ivonescimab.
The companies plan to utilise Lunit SCOPE IO to identify biomarkers, stratify patients, and investigate biological responses to ivonescimab. Credit: Gorodenkoff / Shutterstock.com.
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Under the partnership, the platform will be applied to haematoxylin and eosin-stained whole-slide images to profile tumour microenvironment characteristics.
The companies plan to utilise the tool to identify biomarkers, stratify patients, and investigate biological responses to ivonescimab.
Lunit SCOPE IO evaluates routine tissue slides to analyse spatial interactions, stromal organisation, and immune cell infiltration without requiring extra laboratory stains or assays. The partnership does not include the disclosure of clinical outcome data.
Summit chief research and development strategy officer Allen Yang said: “Understanding the tumour microenvironment is increasingly important as immuno-oncology moves beyond single-axis checkpoint inhibition toward more complex mechanisms and combinations.
“We are pleased to work with Lunit to explore how AI-powered pathology can help generate deeper, more scalable insights from routine tissue samples and inform the continued development of ivonescimab.”
Also designated as SMT112 and AK112, ivonescimab is an investigational bispecific antibody.
Invented by Akeso, the therapy received marketing authorisation in China in May 2024 but lacks regulatory approval in Summit territories such as Europe and the US.
Across Summit’s licenced regions, which comprise Africa, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, North America, and South America, the therapy remains investigational.
More than 5,000 clinical trial participants worldwide and above 100,000 commercial patients in China have received ivonescimab.
A total of 17 Phase III studies are announced, active, or concluded, including five global trials sponsored by Summit, two run by cooperative groups, and ten conducted by Akeso.
Earlier this month, AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo partnered with Summit to explore the potential of their co-developed antibody-drug conjugate, Datroway (datopotamab deruxtecan), alongside ivonescimab.
