Prognosia, a firm founded by researchers at Washington University, has been acquired by Lunit, a publicly traded AI cancer screening firm in South Korea. Led by WashU Medicine researchers Graham Colditz and Shu “Joy” Jiang, Prognosia earlier this summer received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Breakthrough Device designation.
The following article was written by Samir Knox and was originally published in St. Louis Inno on September 4, 2025.
A local firm using artificial intelligence technology to screen for breast cancer risks was acquired by a publicly traded South Korean firm before it made any revenue.
Prognosia, a firm founded last year by researchers at Washington University, was acquired by Lunit, a publicly traded AI cancer screening firm in South Korea. Lunit, which announced the deal last week, did not disclose the terms of the deal.
Local life sciences innovation hub BioSTL, which advised and backed Prognosia, says the exit is an example of how it can quickly scout talent, find new ideas and get unlikely entrepreneurs paid, bringing out-of-state capital to people poised to continue founding companies in the region.
Led by WashU Medicine researchers Graham Colditz and Shu “Joy” Jiang, Prognosia earlier this summer received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration‘s Breakthrough Device designation, a program designed to expedite development of tools that could prove effective in screening and treating life-threatening diseases.
In Prognosia’s case, it boasts “new technology that harnesses AI to analyze mammograms and improve the accuracy of predicting a woman’s personalized five-year risk of developing breast cancer,” according to WashU’s press release on the FDA designation. Doug Frantz, the university’s vice chancellor of innovation and commercialization, called the FDA designation “a prime example of the vital role of entrepreneurship and commercialization at WashU,” in announcing the milestone.
BioSTL’s investment arm, BioGenerator Ventures, provided Prognosia with a promissory note for an early-stage cash infusion, but the firm found a buyer soon after. That note, coupled with some internal funds from WashU, marked the only pre-acquisition capital for Prognosia. BioSTL’s promissory note was used for hiring a consultant to help the firm prepare its submission to the FDA Breakthrough Device program, spokespeople said.
“It happened so fast there wasn’t any time for any investors,” BioSTL spokesperson Amy Gwin said. “It’s just a founder’s wildest dream.”
David Smoller, BioGenerator Ventures’ executive-in-residence and Cultivation Capital general partner, found Prognosia through his relationships with scientists and innovators in the region. Smoller said he routinely works with scientists, who otherwise may have little understanding of how to found startups, and works with them on business plans and coordinates resources.
Researchers Jiang and Colditz only had some data on their research, until Smoller worked with them on getting their ideas into a startup on the path to commercialization.
“I do this every day,” Smoller said. “That’s what we do at BioGenerator.”
Smoller said exits of companies like Prognosia support innovators who develop new ideas in the region, adding that he already had a number of ideas for Jiang and Colditz. Exits like these also get St. Louis on the radar of outside investors, he said, a priority of BioSTL and BioGenerator.
“The No. 1 way that I’ve done that is having those companies acquire our companies,” Smoller said of his strategy for attracting that investment. Smoller said he was involved in other life sciences exits in the region, like the sale of Canopy BioSciences to Massachusetts-based Bruker Corp. (NASDAQ: BRKR) in 2020.
Colditz and Jiang, Prognosia’s only two employees, will consult with Lunit on the technology, post-acquisition, according to Smoller.