Connective (CEO Doohyun Noh), a South Korean medical AI company, has officially launched an AI-based orthopedic assessment platform officially approved by the Abu Dhabi Department of Health (DoH) at the '2025 Abu Dhabi Global Health Week (ADGHW)' in collaboration with Virgil Holdings, a leading healthcare group in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
At the event, Connective and Virgil Holdings also pledged to continue research on ▲ expanding the application of Connective products to Virgil Holdings’ major hospital network and ▲ jointly developing AI solutions in the shoulder and spine fields. This collaboration is a representative example of combining Korea’s cutting-edge AI technology with the UAE’s best clinical expertise, and is expected to become a touchstone for expanding the global patient-centered medical innovation model in the future.
The launching event held on April 16th at the ADNEC CENTRE in Abu Dhabi was attended by Virgil Holdings, Korean government officials, and key figures from the medical community. From Virgil Holdings, Chairman Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, CEO John Sunil Kumar Poyyayial, and COO Waleed Tawfik were in attendance, while from the Korean side, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United Arab Emirates Ryu Je-seung, officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute were in attendance to celebrate the agreement between the two companies.
At the event, Connective CEO Noh Du-hyeon gave a presentation for about 30 minutes, focusing on the core concepts of the company’s AI solutions, clinical application cases, and verification experiences at a local hospital in Abu Dhabi since the second half of last year. The local medical staff showed great interest in improving diagnostic accuracy and real-world application cases based on AI.
The first and only Korean medical AI products officially approved by the UAE Ministry of Health are CONNEVO KOA (Diagnosis Support for Knee Osteoarthritis) and CONNEVO ALI (Analysis of Lower Extremity Misalignment), both of which have been successfully introduced and are currently being used at Burjeel Hospital Abu Dhabi. Based on AI technology, both products support diagnosis and surgical planning for patients with knee osteoarthritis and lower extremity misalignment, contributing to increased diagnostic accuracy and improved patient counseling and treatment compliance.
In addition, the two institutions have published research results in several leading international academic journals through joint research, and recently, through the paper 'Artificial Intelligence-based Analysis of Knee Alignment Differences between Middle Eastern and East Asian Populations', they quantitatively identified the characteristics of regional patient groups and suggested the necessity and possibility of data-based customized diagnosis.
CEO Noh Doo-hyun said, “AI-based medical software is rapidly revolutionizing clinical environments around the world, and Korea is leading this change with its outstanding research capabilities, IT infrastructure, and abundant medical data.” He added, “Virgil Holdings is the optimal partner to implement this vision in actual clinical settings, and we plan to continue joint research in the future to fully expand globally, not just throughout the Middle East.”
John Sunil, CEO of Virgil Holdings, said: “As a transformation partner of Abu Dhabi Global Healthcare Week, we are delighted to host this launch event for Connective. The introduction of AI technology will enhance our orthopedic care capabilities and is a first for driving healthcare innovation in Abu Dhabi and the Middle East.”
This collaboration began through the Global AI Voucher Project of the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) under the Ministry of Science and ICT, and is drawing attention as a representative case where a solution developed based on domestic medical data was successfully applied in an actual overseas clinical field. It is known that the background that made this cross-border collaboration possible was the key contribution of Consultant Orthopedic Surgeon Park Ji-soon of Virgil Hospital, who faithfully fulfilled the role of a bridge between the two countries in terms of practice and clinical aspects.
Connective is growing rapidly, having been selected as an excellent startup by the Korean government (NIPA) and recently attracted a Series A of 14 billion won. It is going through the approval process of the Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety for the solutions under development, and is also preparing to enter the Singapore and Japanese markets. In addition, it is continuously improving its AI-based medical solutions centered on the musculoskeletal system through collaboration with domestic and international research institutes and technology partners, such as the case of Virgil Holdings.
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