Download SKINdex Score: A Platform for the Holistic Evaluation of Skin and

SKINdex Score: A Platform for the Holistic Evaluation of Skin and Skin
Health.
Primary Point of Contact
Name:
Company / Institution
Address
E-Mail Address
Telephone
Dana Hosseini
ProdermIQ, Inc.
3406 29th St
San Diego, CA 92104-4114
United States
[email protected]
(619) 954-4814
The problem – Please define the dermatologic clinical problem worth solving, the current
solutions, and the strengths and weaknesses of the current solutions.
It is now well established that the microbial communities that live in and on us play a role in our health.
On the cutaneous surface the microbiome plays a role is modulating our immune system, producing free
fatty acids, antimicrobial peptides and phenol soluble modulins, keeping our skin from reacting to
changes in environmental conditions and safe from opportunistic pathogens. However, the tools to
interrogate and characterize the complex cutaneous microbial communities have been lacking. Further,
the complete characterization of the skin microbiome has yet to be put into context of healthy or disease
conditions that can be adequately informative for dermatologists and other skin care practitioners to
guide treatment decisions. ProdermIQ skin health measurement system utilizes Next Generation
Sequencing, or NGS, for rapid and accurate sequencing of skin microbes many of which were previously
undetectable with conventional culture-based techniques. By leveraging the high throughput capabilities
of NGS combined with proprietary analytical methods and databases, our platform provides customers
with their SKINdex score calculated by comparing the resulting microbiome composition to
representative microbial profiles in our database. The patient's individual microbiome profile together
with demographic, clinical, and lifestyle data provides the basis of creating a holistic view of skin health
and ProdermIQ’s proprietary skin care solutions that either maintains a representative profile or shifts the
customer’s skin to a different balanced profile. Weaknesses of ProdermIQ's approach include a dearth of
data relating microbial communities to skin health and a general lack of awareness in the dermatology
community of the importance of the microbiome in skin health.
Your solution – Describe how your solution is it different and why is it valuable.
ProdermIQ capitalizes on the convergence of personalized medicine, probiotic health benefits and next
generation genetic analysis technologies to create an accessible testing and analytical platform with
unsurpassed sensitivity and accuracy at detecting and characterizing the skin microbiome through a
simple skin swab. The inherent reproducibility and accuracy of our proprietary analytical platform
enables ProdermIQ to place patients' test results in the context of the population, clinical information,
lifestyle (e.g. diet, exercise), skin care products used and demographic information. To effectively
represent this complex data, ProdermIQ created it's proprietary SKINdex Scoring system that reports an
individual's microbiome results in the context of the tested population based on informative
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characteristics of microbiome composition. Our ability to describe skin using SKINdex Score creates the
first objective skin health measurement tool and with repeated testing enables personalized product and
treatment recommendations and skin care products specifically designed to restore the skin’s healthy
ecosystem.
Clinical hypothesis Summarize the scientific or technical basis of the
drug/device/diagnostic/other technology you are developing, and briefly provide evidence
that support its approach as useful and feasible.
A complex network of interactions between many taxonomically diverse microorganisms shapes the
dynamics of each microbiome. Notable cases are antimicrobial compounds produced by Staphylococcus
epidermidis and Propionibacterium acnes which selectively kill group A streptococcus (GAS) bacteria.
Another example is P. acnes that can inhibit colonization or growth of Staphylococcus aureus by
producing short chain fatty acids. In order to capture such interactions, a co-occurrence map is generated
for all bacteria observed in any tested microbiome, showing the likelihood of coexistence or mutual
exclusion of any two bacteria within a single microbial community. The resulting database, combined
with a functional landscape of the characterized microbiome, will also be mined for meta-trends like
mutualistic interactions between different bacteria and the functional consequences of the community in
the context of clinical and lifestyle considerations. This type of holistic information will have diagnostic
or therapeutic applications for dermatologists and power the next generation of personalized skin health.
Product profile and development plan- Describe the product (i.e. some information of what
it is) and what stage it is in (e.g. concept, preclinical, prototyped, closed beta, etc. as
applicable). Also please include the next major milestone (and costs to that milestone) in
the product’s development.
ProdermIQ's NGS-based testing and analytical platform and SKINdex Score 2.0 based on measuring
microbial diversity and probiotic balance has been developed and tested on over 500 individual samples
through a closed private beta and collaboration with the local chapter of the National Psoriasis
Foundation. This has enabled ProdermIQ to enter into collaborations with corporate skin care companies
and academic groups. The next major milestone will be the creation of a HIPAA compliant database and
web-based portal that will allow skin care professionals to view patient data, curate content and monitor
patient progress following repeated testing.
Value of your solution – What is your rough estimate of the yearly market revenue
potential (and what are some for the basic assumptions underlying that estimate, e.g. this
product could be used by X individuals per year, etc.).
The value of ProdermIQ's platform is that we don't simply provide a test result, but we can provide data
that forms the basis of personalized treatment and skin health. There are an estimated 80 million
individuals in the US alone suffering from skin conditions such as acne, psoriasis, rosacea and eczema.
Each of those individuals would be a candidate for testing either through their skin care professional or
individually through our consumer portal. At just $200 per test the Total Available Market for
ProdermIQ's skin test is $16B. Further revenues will be realized through targeted and personalize
products and data products to our corporate partner
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