DermTech International Raises $10 Million Initial Funding as Part of Current Investment Round
LA JOLLA, Calif., May 30 -- DermTech, an early-stage biotechnology company developing skin sampling technologies for the early detection of melanoma and other pre-clinical and clinical applications, announced today that it has successfully raised significant funds as part of its current $10 million round of financing.
Gary Jacobs, Chairman of DermTech International and Gene Salkind, M.D., both existing shareholders of the company, are subscribing to a major portion of the anticipated total amount of this round. In connection, Dr. Salkind, a board certified neurosurgeon and Chairman of the Division of Neurosurgery, Holy Redeemer Hospital, in Pennsylvania, will join DermTech's Board of Directors.
"We are pleased to announce that already, two key current shareholders have subscribed for this round and I am delighted to welcome Dr. Gene Salkind to our Board of Directors," said George Schwartz, CEO, DermTech. "With the additional funding, our plan is to move into the clinic quickly to further assess the efficacy and sensitivity of our innovative 'tape stripping' technique to screen for and diagnose disease. In evaluations of this technique to identify melanoma vs non-melanoma suspicious lesions (dysplasic nevi), the success rate of differentiation has been 100%."
The company's EGIR (Epidermal Genetic Information Retrieval) technology is a non-invasive technique that makes use of RNA expression patterns, based on information gained painlessly from epidermal cells, to identify a range of diseases such as melanoma and prostate cancer. The novel technology recently won the Top Poster Prize Award for Clinical Research at the Society for Investigative Dermatology 68th Annual Meeting.
"DermTech's 'tape stripping' technique is both sophisticated and intuitive, and one of those concepts that once described, seems so obvious we all wonder why it wasn't conceived much earlier," said Dr. Gene Salkind. "I am very pleased to be involved with the company from a financial standpoint, and am looking forward to working with the Board and assuming a hands-on directorship role."
Dr. Salkind's background includes over 25 years as a practicing neurosurgeon with professorships at leading teaching hospitals including the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and the Albert Einstein Medical Center. He has published multiple papers and been a guest lecturer at congresses worldwide. Dr. Salkind received his B.A. from the University of Philadelphia (cum laude) and his M.D. from the Temple University School of Medicine.
This evening, DermTech, in support of the Richard David Kann Melanoma Foundation will hold a special event in Palm Beach, Florida to raise awareness about the prevention and early detection of melanoma.
About DermTech:
Headquartered in La Jolla, California, DermTech International (http://www.dermtech.com) specializes in the development and validation of molecular tests using specimens derived from the skin. The company's proprietary Epidermal Genetic Information Retrieval (EGIR) technology is being studied in the context of tracking treatment efficacy for a variety of dermatologic and other conditions, including the effects of drugs on skin at the molecular level in advance of observable clinical results, and aiding in the diagnosis of disease. DermTech International is actively pursuing research using EGIR and its applications toward molecular diagnostics and theranostics in the areas of melanoma, prostate cancer and various skin disorders, such as psoriasis.