San Diego startup Skylit Medical is developing a phototherapy device for private home use to treat conditions like psoriasis, eczema and vitiligo. It’s one of those necessity’s the mother of inventionish stories – founder Martyn Gross himself has eczema and psoriasis.
“We are a frustrated group, because this is an inflammatory condition for which there is no cure – so we spend $10 billion per year to solve this problem,” Gross said, adding that most of these dollars go to systemic and biologic drugs, which are costly out-of-pocket for patients.
Indeed, one common therapy for these autoimmune skin conditions is UVB therapy – but the problem for many patients, Gross said, is that it takes a significant time investment to regularly go to a phototherapy clinic.
Skylit’s concept is to develop its handheld device, setting up an out-of-pocket subscription service for patients to essentially lease it and use it at home. The patient would receive a prescription from a dermatologist, and then the doctor-programmed device would do the rest of the work. It’d turn on the UVB light in, say, 30-second increments – whatever and whenever the doctor orders – and then automatically shut off once the day’s sufficient therapy has been administered.
The goal is ultimately to build a camera into the device, so that the skin conditions’ progression can be tracked by a derm. In the near-term, the device will at least have WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities to transmit prescription data from the doc to the patient, Gross said.
Phototherapy has, by the way, a range of benefits for skin conditions, according to the National Eczema Association – reducing itch, working as an anti-inflammatory agent, increasing vitamin D production and increasing bacteria-fighting systems in the skin. For psoriasis and even vitiligo, it shows similar benefits.
Skylit isn’t the only device, it should be noted, that is working in the at-home phototherapy business. But the company’s in the midst of a $2 million seed round, having raised about $150,000 by the end of July, according to a regulatory filing. Gross said it hopes to raise $3.4 million, however, in its Series A round.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
“The goal with the Skylit device was to make it as easy as possible,” Gross said.
