Lunit Inc and Summit Therapeutics Inc. announced a research agreement to evaluate the use of Lunit SCOPE IO, Lunit’s AI-powered pathology platform, for tumor microenvironment analysis in support of Summit’s immuno-oncology development programs with ivonescimab.
The effort will focus on applying Lunit SCOPE IO to hematoxylin and eosin-stained (H&E) whole-slide images to characterize tumor microenvironment features. The companies aim to explore how AI-powered pathology analysis can support biomarker discovery, patient stratification or selection, and a deeper biological understanding of response to ivonescimab therapies.
Summit is developing ivonescimab, a novel, potential first-in-class investigational PD-1 / VEGF bispecific antibody, in several solid tumors. Lunit SCOPE IO is designed to support immuno-oncology research and biomarker development through AI-powered analysis of H&E slides, enabling scalable assessment of tumor microenvironment features without requiring additional stains or assays.
“Understanding the tumor 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.”
-Allen Yang, MD, PhD, Chief Research and Development Strategy Officer of Summit
“Summit is at the forefront of next-generation immuno-oncology development, and we are excited to support its efforts with Lunit SCOPE IO. By extracting quantitative, spatially resolved immune and tumor microenvironment features from standard H&E slides, we believe SCOPE IO can help biopharma partners better understand which patients may benefit from immuno-oncology therapies and why.”
-Brandon Suh, Lunit CEO
This agreement reflects the growing importance of computational pathology in oncology drug development. Routine H&E slides contain rich information about tumor architecture, immune infiltration, stromal organization, and spatial interactions within the tumor microenvironment. However, traditional manual assessment can be difficult to scale and may not fully capture the quantitative and spatial complexity of the tumor-immune interface. AI-powered analysis offers the potential to convert these routinely generated pathology images into reproducible, high-dimensional biomarker data.
Ivonescimab, known as SMT112 in Summit’s license territories, North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Japan, and as AK112 outside of Summit’s license territories, is a novel, potential first-in-class investigational bispecific antibody combining the effects of immunotherapy via a blockade of PD-1 with the anti-angiogenesis effects associated with blocking VEGF into a single molecule. By design, ivonescimab displays unique cooperative binding to each of its intended targets with multifold higher affinity to PD-1 when in the presence of VEGF.
Founded in 2013, Lunit is a global leader on a mission to conquer cancer through AI. Our clinically validated solutions span medical imaging, breast health, and biomarker analysis, empowering earlier detection, smarter treatment decisions, and more precise outcomes across the cancer care continuum.
