Korean medical imaging AI companies secure supply contracts in Germany

Population-wide cancer screening programs in Germany have tapped support from South Korean medical imaging AI providers.

KOSDAQ-listed Lunit recently signed a five-year partnership with private radiology network Starvision Service to deploy several medical imaging AI solutions across its 79 sites. These include software applications for analysing chest, breast, and fracture images.

Initial rollouts are underway, with its AI-powered mammography analysis solution now implemented at Radiologische Allianz to support the breast cancer screening program in Hamburg. 

Another Korea Exchange-listed company, Coreline Soft, recently signed a deal to supply its AI-driven lung cancer screening software to the 1,300-bed University Hospital Bonn. 

Just last week, the same solution (called AVIEW LCS) was reportedly added to Bayer’s Calantic marketplace of medical imaging AI tools. 

Coreline Soft has also been the exclusive technology partner for Hanse, the national lung cancer screening study in northern Germany, since 2022. 

WHY IT MATTERS

Germany corners a quarter of the medical device market in Europe, and ranks fourth globally after the United States, China, and Japan. 

“While Germany, which leads the medical field in Europe, is active in the introduction of AI technology, our products are constantly expanding to key hospitals…,” said Coreline Soft CEO Kim Jin-kook. The company has so far partnered with six of the leading hospitals in the country, including University Hospital Heidelberg. 

“With these [supply] contracts, not only will the government’s cancer screening increase in Germany, but additional AI orders will be mandatory,” he claimed. 

THE LARGER TREND

It has been over a year since medical imaging AI providers from South Korea have aggressively expanded across Europe after taking on the US, the world’s largest medical AI market. 

Lunit has secured major supply deals with the largest private radiology networks in France, TeleDiag and VIDI Group, which have combined locations of over 600. 

Coreline Soft has supply deals with hospitals in France, Spain, Switzerland, and Austria. It has recently set its focus on cementing its presence across France and Italy, as well as the United Kingdom.