Hecto Group Joins 'OncoTact Consortium'... Expands AI Capabilities into Healthcare

Hecto Group will participate in the 'OncocTact Consortium'.

According to Hecto Group on September 1, the company's artificial intelligence (AI) division, HAI (Hecto AI) Headquarters, is leading a national project in the digital healthcare sector as part of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's 'Bio Industry Technology Development' program, and will develop AI-based software as a medical device (SaMD).

The OncoTact Consortium, overseen by Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, brings together major domestic medical institutions and AI and data companies, with research funding totaling 15.5 billion won secured until December 2030. The initiative aims to develop and commercialize AI technologies for early diagnosis and recurrence prediction of pancreatic and lung cancers. The consortium is structured to combine hospitals' clinical expertise with companies' technological capabilities, forming a development pipeline from AI software development to clinical validation and regulatory approval.

Within the consortium, Hecto will be responsible for developing the AI medical device 'LuTECT-1' to assist with early diagnosis of lung cancer, as well as the AI medical device 'LuTECT-2' to predict recurrence of lung cancer. Hecto plans to commercialize these products for use in general hospitals, health screening centers, and the national lung cancer screening program after obtaining approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Professor Kim Yeonuk of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital commented, "Various AI technologies that can detect lung cancer at an early stage using only imaging data already exist," adding, "This consortium will go further by developing techniques that predict both early diagnosis and post-surgical recurrence using multimodal data spanning six major categories, including genomics and pathology, in addition to imaging."

A representative from Hecto stated, "This national R&D project will be a key opportunity for Hecto to expand its AI capabilities into the medical field and receive real-world validation. We will closely collaborate with medical institutions and specialized companies in each sector to develop AI medical devices that offer meaningful assistance in the early detection and post-surgical management of lung cancer, with the ultimate goal of targeting global hospitals, screening organizations, and the global medical AI market."

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