"The goal is to conquer cancer with software," said medical physicist Jin Sung Kim, CEO of Oncosoft and professor of radiation oncology at Yonsei University. Construction of the heavy particle therapy machine at Yonsei Cancer Hospital is in full swing.
[MediGate News reporter Im Sol] The proton therapy machine at the National Cancer Center in 2010, the proton therapy machine at Samsung Medical Center in 2016, and the heavy particle therapy machine at Severance Hospital in 2023.... The only person who has been or is currently at all of these sites is medical physicist Kim Jin-sung, CEO of OncoSoft and professor of radiation oncology at Yonsei University.
He brought a world-class radiation therapy machine to Korea, which has become a world-class cancer treatment center, but he was disappointed that there was no domestic radiation therapy hardware and software. In 2019, he founded OncoSoft as a faculty member and created OncoStudio, a radiation therapy planning software.
"ONCOSOFT stands for Oncology (Oncology) and software," says Kim. "As cancer is becoming a disease that requires lifelong management, Oncosoft's direction is to help patients manage cancer better and receive better medical services," said Kim.
"We also want to be a company that empowers Korea's radiation oncology departments," said Kim. "We will show graduate students in medical physics a promising future and make people more aware of the excellence of radiation therapy in Korea."
We met with Oncosoft CEO Kim Jin-sung at Yonsei Cancer Center of Severance Hospital, where construction is underway for the heavy particle therapy machine, to learn more.
A medical physicist for 20 years, from cancer center to Samsung Medical Center to Severance Hospital
-You have a unique experience in the history of introducing radiation therapy machines in Korea. How did you first choose to major in medical physics and pursue radiation research?
I majored in nuclear engineering at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) and was interested in energy. In my senior year, I took a class on radiation therapy and medical physics, and I was immediately fascinated by the idea that radiation could be used to treat patients and be studied. I received my master's degree from KAIST but did my research at Samsung Medical Center. My doctoral thesis was in the field of computer-assisted diagnosis, which many medical AI companies are currently working on, and it was called ‘How to diagnose lung cancer with a computer’.
After graduation, I chose radiation oncology as my career path. There was a special military service course at the National Cancer Center, so I participated in research and actual clinical trials related to proton therapy at the National Cancer Center. Then, I had the opportunity to introduce a proton therapy machine to Samsung Medical Center, and I worked at Samsung Medical Center, where I went through the entire process of purchasing, accepting, commissioning, preparing, and treating the machine. When I heard that Severance Hospital was the first in Korea to introduce a heavy particle therapy machine, I came to Severance Hospital again. I always enjoy new challenges.
-How did you decide to start ONCOSOFT after working in radiation therapy?
It is the 100th anniversary of radiation therapy in Korea, and there are more than 100 hospitals in Korea that provide radiation therapy. However, radiation therapy machines use 100% imported products, both hardware and software. The amount of money spent directly or indirectly on purchasing decisions so far is over 100 billion won, but there are very few Korean products. This is partly due to the narrow scope of the radiation therapy field, but I have always felt that we are missing out on a good market.
When hospitals buy the latest radiation therapy machines, they buy billions of won worth of software apart from the hardware, and they use foreign products. As a result, even if they wanted to customize the software to make it more user-friendly or change its functions, they were limited. I founded ONCOSOFT with the hope that the industry would develop at the same time as Korea's clinical level. The clinical level of radiation therapy has increased, and I wanted to solve the limitations of the industry's dependence on foreign countries.
Recently, I decided to start my own company and create a product based on my experience while conducting research on artificial intelligence. I have been programming since I was in college. With a lot of research being done on radiation therapy machines, I realized that Korea could be strong enough in the software field.
I was fortunate to be surrounded by a really good team, with people I've worked with for years serving as CTO, CSO, medical advisors, and administration. Given the growth of foreign radiotherapy software companies, I am confident that if we are prepared, we will be able to seize the opportunity one day.
OncoSoft's flagship product, OncoStudio, uses artificial intelligence to design the radiation therapy planning process.
-What is OncoSoft's flagship product, OncoStudio, how is it currently available, and what are the benefits for hospitals and patients?
In order for cancer patients to receive radiation therapy, they must first undergo a CT scan and plan their radiation treatment. This requires a CT scan of the patient's tumor and then an accurate drawing of the tumor area. Then, based on the accurately drawn tumor area and normal tissue, the radiation treatment plan must be created, simulating precisely in which direction and how much radiation to deliver. All of these processes are driven by software, which must be used accurately and efficiently in this essential part of treatment preparation.
Even if the patient's tumor site is roughly identified in an image reading, the tumor site must be precisely targeted during radiation therapy. This ensures that the correct radiation dose and tumor site are entered for radiation therapy. If the radiation is administered incorrectly, it can affect normal tissue instead of the tumor. Too much radiation can cause side effects such as a hole in the esophagus, loss of saliva from the salivary glands, or damage to the spine. Accuracy is key, and software that simulates this process with precision and accuracy plays an important role.
What if artificial intelligence could pinpoint the tumor site and reduce the time it takes for doctors to manually draw it?
From the patient's point of view, they could receive radiation treatment quickly and see exactly where the tumor is and how it looks. OncoStudio is a radiation treatment planning software based on this idea. Since June 2021, OncoStudio has been receiving feedback from real-world clinics through clinical studies, and has completed clinical utilization verification through demos at various hospitals.
-Is ONCOSOFT being used in actual hospitals and is it leading to sales?
OncoStudio has already been installed as a demo in more than 10 hospitals, including Sinchon Severance Hospital, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, and Ewha Womans University Eulji Hospital, and has been used by about 10,000 patients. Of the 100 hospitals that provide radiation therapy in Korea, about 20 hospitals replace their hardware and software at the same time every year. In this process, the goal is to replace only the software with OncoStudio. In fact, the number of hospitals inquiring about adoption and requesting demos has been increasing since the license was granted.
Another opportunity is that while the typical hardware replacement cycle is up to 10 years, new equipment is constantly being introduced, which is shortening the replacement cycle. Software technology is even faster, so we see ample opportunity. .
AI tends to focus on research in radiology, which is a challenge for companies because the number problem is not easily solved in practice. However, for high-end radiotherapy, it is promising enough for AI to replace treatment planning, as it is already reasonably priced for the treatment, and the software can receive the existing price without creating a new price.
ONCOSOFT is the only company that has applied AI to radiotherapy and can reach the world level.
-What are the advantages of Korean radiotherapy software?
Even if the performance of domestic software is similar to foreign products, the biggest advantage is that it has good after-sales service and quick response. Korea has the same rapid development of radiation therapy technology as overseas, and there is also the advantage of jointly researching and developing the latest technology in Korea.
-How much was the initial investment and are there any plans to raise additional investment in the future?
We started the company in 2019 and received seed money from the accelerator Bluepoint Partners in 2020. Then, we were selected for Tips, a private investment-led technology startup support program of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and received an additional 500 million won in investment. In 2021, the company received Pre-A investment by signing an MOU with medical artificial intelligence company Buno to jointly research and develop artificial intelligence for precision cancer treatment, and recently generated 180 million won in sales by transferring artificial intelligence segmentation technology to a peer company. Based on this, OncoStudio started clinical research in 2021 and obtained a Class 2 license from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in February 2022.
We are now in the process of formalizing our Series A investment. After receiving the investment, the company needs to recruit talent and develop new services. We are looking to hire a CFO and sales staff. We're looking to grow to 10 employees and expand our office. Most importantly, we need to invest in new services.
-What is the current state of AI software technology for radiation therapy in Korea, and do you think Oncosoft can reach the global level?
There have been companies that make software for radiotherapy, but ONCOSOFT is the only company that sincerely challenges the field of radiotherapy by utilizing AI in earnest. In particular, as a professor of radiation oncology at Yonsei University, I can directly verify the latest clinical technology and identify the shortcomings of current technology and what needs to be improved. Although it will take some time, he believes Oncosoft's technology can reach the world-class level.
In addition, a heavy particle therapy machine, of which there are only 15 in the world, will be operationalized at Yonsei Cancer Hospital in 2023. With the convergence of the best hardware, the neutron therapy machine, and the best software, Onkosoft's AI, the world's most advanced radiation therapy will soon be realized.
Predictability and history of cancer treatment, personalized cancer treatment is coming
-We believe that AI software will enable personalized treatment. What software will be developed next?
First, we will successfully market our radiation treatment planning software. Then, we will evolve into a CDSS (Clinical Decision Support System) that manages and predicts cancer patients' treatment and a platform that manages general cancer patients' data.
It is difficult to describe all the services we are preparing, but we plan to collect data from 2022 cancer patients this year. If cancer patients agree to provide patient information, we will show the predictability and history of cancer treatment based on CT images from the first visit. The idea was conceived to help the situation where it is difficult to accurately explain the patient's condition due to the reality of three-minute medical treatment in Korea.
By steadily accumulating imaging information from the patient's point of view, they can see the size of the cancer shrinking not only during the radiation treatment process but also during the comprehensive treatment of cancer. By resolving the questions of cancer patients and their caregivers, we will be able to get closer to personalized cancer treatment through various services that Oncosoft is preparing.
-What would you like to say about the company's future direction and goals?
We would like to expand our services from radiotherapy hospitals to the general public. Currently, all medical services are hospital-centered, and data is also located in hospitals. However, through the MyData project and others, we will have the opportunity to bring data out of the hospital with the participation and consent of patients, increase its utilization, and create new services that do not currently exist. This will ultimately bring us closer to personalized cancer care while answering patients' questions. Oncosoft's goal is to conquer cancer with software.
Jinseong Kim, CEO of ONCOSOFT, Ph.D.
Graduated from KAIST, Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering
M.S. in Nuclear and Quantum Engineering, KAIST
Former postdoctoral researcher at the National Cancer Center Proton Therapy Center and Academy of Medical Physics
Former Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Samsung Medical Center
Secretary General of the Korean Society of Medical Physics
Planning Director of the Korean Society of Medical Artificial Intelligence
Professor, Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University
