Our Journey

Take a look at our journey of creating the first comprehensive AI diagnostic solutions.

Mediwhale’s most defining moments

2024

January

Reti-CKD clinical trial protocol approval by Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Administration 

2023

December

Obtained New Excellent Technology (NET) designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare

November

Secured 1st place at the ‘E-nnova Health 2023 Awards’ in Spain

Presented the research results at the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Society of Nephrology(ASN)

October

CMO, Tyler Rim, selected as one of the top 2% scientists worldwide

September

Awarded 3rd place in the Myoptic Maculopathy Analysis Challenge(MMAC) hosted by The Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention(MICCAI)

August

Presented the research results at the 2023 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) conference

Reti-CKD was designated as the Innovative Medical Device by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea

June

Emerged as the winner of the ‘CKD Challenge’ organized by AstraZeneca with the collaboration of Wayra

Proof of concept paper for Reti-CKD was published in the npj Digital Medicine(IF 15.357), a portfolio journal of the Nature

Physicians can charge patients for Reti-CVD for diagnosis and treatment purposes as it was selected for the Postponement of New Health Technology Assessment (nHTA)

March

Raises $9 million Series A round for AI-empowered eye scans predicting future diseases

Joined the MedTech Accelerator program at Mayo Clinic and Arizona State University

January

Joined StartX, a prestigious Silicon Valley-based accelerator program affiliated with Stanford University and Stanford Healthcare

2022

November

Awarded CES Innovation Award 2023 for Reti-CVD

Presented at the American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Session in Chicago and the American Society of Nephrology’s (ASN) Kidney Week in Orlando, Florida

Reti-CVD was confirmed to be the candidate of the New Health Technology Assessment (nHTA) by the HIRA (Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service) in Korea, meaning it is a new medical practice that requires separate compensation by the Korean national insurance

October

Selected in HeartX 2022, a cardiovascular-focused healthcare accelerator program supported by HealthTech Arkansas and MedAxiom

Joined Innovator’s Network of Center for Health Technology & Innovation at the American Heart Association

Reti-Eye & Reti-CVD were registered as medical devices by Food and Drug Administration of Thailand – Category : Cardiovascular risk assessment based on retinal image & eye screening service

August

Reti-CVD was approved as a class III medical device by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea

June

Reti-Eye was installed in Cheonho public health clinic in Seoul as part of a metabolic disease prevention campaign

April

“Retinal photograph-based deep learning predicts biological age, and stratifies morbidity and mortality risk” was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Age and Ageing (IF:12.8)

Reti-Eye & Reti-CVD were registered as class IIa medical devices by the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (NA-DFC) of Indonesia – Category: Cardiovascular risk assessment based on retinal image & eye screening service

February

Singapore office was opened

Reti-Eye & Reti-CVD were registered as class B medical devices by Health Sciences Authority (HSA) of Singapore –  Category: Cardiovascular risk assessment based on retinal image & eye screening service

Reti-Eye & Reti-CVD were registered as a medical device by Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency of UK – Category: Cardiovascular risk assessment based on retinal image & eye screening service

2021

December

Reti-Eye & Reti-CVD were registered as a class IIa medical device by the Australian Registry of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG)

October

Reti-Eye & Reti-CVD were registered as class B medical devices by the Ministry of Health of Malaysia

August

Raised $2 mil Pre-A round from Korean investors led by SBI Investment

A patent “AI technology that predicts cardiovascular disease risk through retinal image” was transferred from Singapore Eye Center

May

Reti-Eye & Reti-CVD obtained CE approval as a class IIa medical device in the EU – Category: Cardiovascular risk assessment based on retinal image & eye screening service

“Deep-learning-based cardiovascular risk stratification using coronary artery calcium scores predicted from retinal photographs” was published in a top-tier medical journal (The Lancet Digital Health, IF:36.6)

2020

December

Reti-CVD was registered as an innovative medical device by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea for screening cardiovascular risk

November

Prediction of systemic biomarkers from retinal photographs: development and validation of deep-learning algorithms” was published in a top-tier medical journal (The Lancet Digital Health, IF: 36.6)

August

Reti-Eye was approved as a class III medical device by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea  

May

 ISO 13485 certification was obtained

2019

July

 A research collaboration agreement was signed with Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI)

March

KGMP (Korean Good Manufacturing Practice) certificate was obtained

February

8 patented technologies were transferred from Yonsei University including “Retinal image analysis method” and “Cardiovascular disease diagnosis through retinal image”

2018

August

A research collaboration agreement was signed with Yonsei University Health System to develop AI-based eye screening technology through retinal image analysis

March

“Retinal image analysis method” technologies were transferred from Yonsei University

2017

September

A leadership team of Kevin Taegeun Choi, Tyler Hyungtaek Rim, and Young Geunyoung Lee was formed

MARCH

2nd place was awarded in the biggest medical data analysis competition hosted by Asan Medical Center & Microsoft Korea

2016

December

Mediwhale Inc. was founded in Seoul, Korea