- Skin cancer is the most commonly occuring form of cancer in the United States, accounting for just under half of all cancers, or >5 million diagnoses annually. Of skin cancers, 2% of occurences are melanoma, with the rest being less well recognized types – basal cell and squamous cell cancers. Unfortunately, all of these cancers are very difficult for the non-specialist (e.g. primary care physicians) to diagnose and distinguish from non-cancerous skin abnormalities. Uncertainty in this initial assessment leads to (I) failure to detect cancer at an early, more treatable stage, (II) hundreds of malpractice claims due to false negative diagnoses (TheDoctorsCompany) and (III) many unnecessary referrals/biopsies. Overall, the lack of an accurate, objective assessment tool for frontline caregivers has led to a preventable loss of lives resulting in a cost to the healthcare system in excess of $3B each year; monies that are unnecessarily wasted.
- Despite high survival rate when detected early (~97%), one person dies every hour from melanoma in the U.S. making early detection vital for effective treatment. Failure to spot melanoma at an early, more treatable stage results in individual treatment costs in excess of $150,000 and 9000 deaths annually. At an average cost of $140 per dermatologist visit and $200 per biopsy, an estimated $5.8 billion is spent on dermatology visits and skin biopsies each year to determine whether a suspect skin lesion is cancerous or not. Reportedly for every 2.2 biopsies, only 1 is in need of subsequent treatment.
What is needed is a low-cost alternative that provides an accurate, non-subjective assessment of suspect skin regions by non-specialist frontline caregivers enabling precise targeting of patients for subsequent biopsies and/or escalation of care. Veriskin will focus distribution efforts on frontline caregivers, e.g. primary care physicians and nurse practitioners, in addition to specialists (dermatologists) through a combination of device per-use fees along with so-called "disposable sales" also known as the "razor/razorblade" model. Based on anticipated prices and projected usage rates, Veriskin estimates the US market (TAM) to be in excess of $2.4B and the overall EU market at $5.3B. Projected revenues are > $100MM after 5 years of sales.
