Yunu Emerges as Industry Leader to Address the Way Imaging Data Impacts Breakthrough Therapy Development

Clinical trial imaging has been a disorganized, disconnected, and highly inefficient element of breakthrough therapy development, yet it is necessary for over 90% of oncology trials. It is also critical to many other specialty trials, including those with a cardiac, neuro, and pulmonary focus. Unfortunately, the difficulties around trial imaging cause delays and inaccuracies while also creating roadblocks for the successful decentralization and diversification of clinical trials. This has led to limited trial access where most Americans receive their care.

Having just completed a successful health tech exit at the beginning of the pandemic, Yunu co-founders Jeff Sorenson and Gael Kuhn found themselves looking for the biggest problem they could solve with their medical imaging and AI (Artificial Intelligence) expertise. After a year of market exploration and stakeholder discussions, they launched Yunu. “Today’s clinical trial imaging is a disconnected and inefficient burden. Every cancer center, pharma sponsor, and CRO we spoke with knew the problem well – they just didn’t know how to solve it,” notes Yunu CEO Jeff Sorenson. “For any of our highly specialized ideas to have a chance at lift off, we would need to first fix the plumbing of imaging workflow as it is central to every future therapy breakthrough.”

“We could not un-see the issues at hand and felt compelled to apply our knowledge to help build a strong, imaging-based foundation for the future of research. Although building an imaging ecosystem across all trial sites was our initial goal, it was clear that starting with a site-centric workflow was imperative. Every time we dove into site infrastructure, we found spreadsheets, emails, and disastrous home-grown tech – except one,” says Yunu CTO Gael Kuhn.

Enter Dr. Gordon Harris, co-founder of the Tumor Imaging Metrics Core at the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), and now, also co-founder and Chief Science Officer at Yunu. As a customer of Jeff and Gael’s former company, Dr. Harris became a trusted advisor for the project, drawing upon his experience and insights to provide valuable guidance. Conversations quickly revealed that his team’s in-house, grant-funded technology project, initially created to solve in-house imaging workflow, could be the new core of the Yunu ecosystem.

“Workflow might sound like a simple concept, but without thoughtful, stateful workflow and pristine imaging data management to handle the intricacies of clinical trial imaging, everything else falls apart,” shares Dr. Harris. Upon Yunu licensing the technology and welcoming the expert development and support teams into the company, Yunu swiftly transitioned into commercial operations, poised for rapid growth and market penetration.

Just a year and a half into operation, Yunu is home to over 4,200 active clinical trials and driving trial imaging workflow at over 25% of NCI (National Cancer Institute) designated cancer centers. The company is also the newly selected partner of two of the U.S.’s largest and most prestigious imaging cores and several small and large pharma sponsors.

“The industry is plagued with staffing shortages and disconnected systems. There are at least seven job openings for every qualified Clinical Research Coordinator in clinical trials today. Our technology is helping cover those gaps and alleviating burnout. We also see a real hunger for efficiency, accuracy, compliance, and connectedness among clinical trial imaging stakeholders. The enthusiasm from sites, reading groups, and sponsors is palpable, and we are energized by everyone’s interest in improving trial access to all populations and ensuring that imaging data is utilized to its full potential,” said Dr. Harris.

Yunu’s latest innovations allow the fun part to begin – where pharma sponsors can apply their in-house or third-party data science to in-flight clinical trials for faster, more accurate, and better-informed decisions. Yunu CTO Gael Kuhn shared, “With the infrastructure issue solved, imaging data is starting to come alive and transform research in remarkable ways. As Yunu continues to expand its footprint in the clinical trial landscape, a flywheel effect unlocks the full potential of imaging data in research.”

With an ever-growing portfolio of active trials and strategic partnerships, Yunu is poised to lead the way in driving efficiency, accuracy, and connectivity in clinical trial imaging. Each milestone achieved advances Yunu closer to its goal of transforming the future of patient care and revolutionizing the development of breakthrough therapies for all.