VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Derm-Biome Pharmaceuticals Inc, a Vancouver based biopharmaceutical company with a focus on skin disease, is excited to announce that it is collaborating with Dr. Anna Mandinova from the Department of Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital in a skin cancer study. Current standard of care chemotherapy-based creams damage normal skin, resulting in debilitating side effects that lead to poor patient compliance. Derm-Biome has developed a second-generation topical treatment for precancerous skin conditions (such as actinic keratosis) and non-melanoma skin cancers that is highly selective for cancer cells while being well-tolerated by normal skin. Soaring skin cancer rates are reaching all-time highs in many parts of the world, and there are now more global deaths from non-melanoma skin cancers than melanoma itself.
Dr. Anna Mandinova, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, and Associate Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cutaneous Biology Research Center says: “My lab previously treated primary patient-derived squamous cell carcinoma cells and normal keratinocytes with a Derm-Biome compound. The results were very exciting. The Derm-Biome compound performed better than the chemotherapeutic drugs we used in the past and the current standard of care. It demonstrated high selectivity for tumor cells and low toxicity for non-lesional cells. We look forward to working with Derm-Biome on this exciting collaboration, as there is a critical unmet clinical need for the development of new treatments for squamous cell carcinoma of the skin.”
Dr. Poul Sorensen, Derm-Biome CSO, Professor, Department of Pathology, University of British Columbia: “This very interesting natural product-derived compound selectively induces cell death in cancer cells by triggering a process called apoptosis, while essentially completely sparing normal cells, which appear to be resistant to the drug.”
Derm-Biome CEO Gordon Eberwein: “Chemotherapy creams have been topical treatment mainstays for precancerous skin conditions for over 60 years. These creams work, but they typically have considerable side effects. We see a significant opportunity in bringing a safe and highly effective topical skin cancer medication to the market.”
The Actinic Keratosis Treatment Market is expected to reach $9.7 billion USD by 2032 due in part to growing incidences of skin cancer and an increased demand for minimally invasive surgeries (source: Global Market Insights).
About Derm-Biome Pharmaceuticals, Inc
Derm-Biome Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a preclinical biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving skin health. We have topical lead compounds for inflammatory skin diseases (acne and atopic dermatitis) and precancerous skin conditions/non-melanoma skin cancers that are both highly effective and well tolerated by skin. We are currently advancing our inflammatory skin disease drug towards a phase I clinical trial.
Contact
Investor Inquiries:
Gordon Eberwein
geberwein@derm-biome.com
https://derm-biomepharmaceuticals.com/
